Red vs Blue: Dissent
by RocketTortoise
Summary: Based before the events of the Red vs. Blue Season 9 and 10, Agent Carolina must fight to keep her team together under the threat of old enemies and new old enemies but the one thing she can't stop is her team tearing itself apart as it continues on the road towards its inevitable fate. Introduces a couple of new characters along the way. Best summary ever... of all time.
1. Chapter 1: Happy Landings

**Red vs. Blue: Dissent**

**Chapter One**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Red vs Blue or any of the original characters. They are owned by Rooterteeth. If there is any plot holes in the story that are inconsistent with the actual Red vs. Blue storyline, please, keep it to yourself. I'm kidding, I'll accept any suggestions and take it into consideration and if I feel it will help my story then I'll… do something with it. Even though there will probably only be like seven people who ever read this story. I'm not being pessimistic I'm being realistic. So… yeah.**

**Many Years Ago…**

"Foxtrot Chariot, this is Mother of Invention. Do you copy, over?"

"Mother of Invention, we copy, over."

"Is Foxtrot prepped for insertion, over?"

"Affirmative, we're all strapped in and geared up, over."

"Acknowledged Foxtrot Chariot. You are twenty clicks from deployment zone, ETA two minutes. Good Luck Foxtrot, over and out."

Project Freelancer Agent Carolina heard all this on her radio. She leant back in her seat before pulling up the head shots of her team on the screen in front of her. Even though it was impossible to see their faces behind the reflective visors of their helmets, Carolina could still tell that they were nervous. It was like a chill in the air. The four helmets all turned to attention and Carolina began her brief announcement, "Okay, team. We deploy in two minutes. Make sure you're air-tight and everything is functional. There isn't going to be a second chance if we mess this up."

Agent Washington suddenly began checking that everything was working with an obvious air of panic, "Are we sure that this is the only way we can do this? There isn't a… less painful way of deploying."

"Negative Wash. Anything else and we'll get shot out of the sky."

The radios were quite good. Even through the helmet, Carolina could hear Washington gulp. She couldn't blame him. Out of all six of them, only one had actually performed this sort of insertion in person. According to Agent Indiana who spoke for Agent Colorado, it isn't the sort of thing you rush back for seconds for. She could understand that.

"Relax, Wash," Agent York said cheerfully, "Just imagine it like a rollercoaster, then multiply that by fifty and add the ominous threat of a somewhat embarrassing death."

"Thanks York, really." Washington muttered.

"Hey Wash," Agent South Dakota said in a narcissistic voice, "If you chicken out, I'm sure the Director will be very impressed and send you off to bed early with a warm glass of milk."

"Ok people, shut it," Carolina interrupted, "One minute until insertion. Enough with the encouragement, team. We don't need New Harmony all over again." Wash cry of disbelief was followed by poorly contained chuckles from the rest of the team. Carolina couldn't help it, it was just too easy an opportunity.

"It's quite alright, Wash," Agent Wyoming said in his usual British accent, "Backing out now will not change how we see you."

"I hate you all." Washington muttered darkly. Everyone cracked up laughing but Washington continued, "Honestly, if your lives had faces, I would punch them; I would punch your lives in the face. This brought on even more laughs. Even Colorado tilted his head to the side slightly.

"Okay team, deploying in thirty seconds." Carolina announced.

"Last chance to jump ship, Wash." South said.

"Just stop talking, please stop talking." Wash replied. There were no more laughs as everyone braced for deployment.

"Twenty seconds to deployment." The mood around the team was tenser than ever. "Ten seconds… nine… eight… seven… six…"

"Hey South," Wash said, "Just in case I don't get a chance to say this later… Ouch."

Just then the floor opened up from under them and a faint hissing sound was barely heard over the roaring winds as the cabin pressurized. Moments later, they dropped.

The fairly dark cabin they were just in was replaced by the night sky and as Carolina looked up, she failed to see the Pelican they had just been dropped from. She looked back to the front of her drop pod which served as both a window and a screen. She pulled up her team again as they were lost in the drop and the five helmets reappeared on her screen. "Okay team, it is 2543 hours local time and from the distinct lack of gunfire, we haven't been spotted yet. I'll take this time to re-brief you. We are above the city of New Harkness. It is currently held by the Insurrection. Freelancer forces have been trying to get in for weeks but so far the Insurrection's defences have held. That is why we are being dropped behind enemy lines. Our primary objective is to punch a gap in the Insurrection's defences and let our forces in. Our secondary objective is to cause as much mayhem as possible. That includes destroying weapon caches taking out high-ranking officers and generally crippling the Insurrection for future conflicts. From information gathered by analysts, the Insurrection leader is supposedly in the city as well so if you find him, kill him. Got it?" There were nods around the team. "Our landing coordinates have already been designated by command so when you land, get to the rendezvous point which is here." The rest of the team should be getting shown a map of the city with the points of their landing spots and the rendezvous points. "If you are knocked off course and you land somewhere else then stick to the plan and head to the rendezvous point."

A timer appeared on her screen, "Touchdown in thirty seconds–" The pod shook terribly as loud gunfire rocketed around the pods.

"We've been spotted!" York yelled.

Yellow flashes erupted around the night sky around them. Sooner or later, someone's going to get hit.

Someone did. A pod directly in front of her was consumed in a flash of yellow light. The explosion sent Carolina's pod spinning. She looked at her screen and she saw that the square where Washington was supposed to be had degraded into static. _I'm sorry, Wash_. Carolina didn't have time to mourn because she saw the timer counting down to the moment when they hit the ground. It read ten seconds. "Everybody, pull chutes, _now!_" She pulled a lever and the pod shook as the air caught on the parachute and the pod began to slow. But now she was a sitting duck. Either way, this was going to hurt.

A loud screeching erupted around her as her pod erupted in a flash of white light and Carolina just had time to think, _They got me_, before she blacked out.

* * *

**Aboard Project Freelancer Frigate Mother of Invention**

As the Mother of Invention drifted along in orbit around a planet, two men waited around a holographic screen. One of them stood with his hands behind his back while the other stood with a datapad in his hands. The two stood in silence while scientists worked furiously around them. The man with his hands behind his back, The Director, turned to the other and asked, "Are we ready for extraction, Counselor?"

The man with the datapad, The Counselor, nodded saying, "We are ready when you are, Director, however I am not completely sure that the timing at the moment is not premature."

"We have done tests and preparations for months now, Counselor," The Director replied, a note of frustration creeping into his voice, "I need to see the extraction with my own eyes."

The Counselor hesitated before nodding, "Yes Director. Extraction beginning."

On the screen, a small, blue figure appeared. It was wrapped in a ball with its legs up against its helmet. At the sight of the Director, the small figure spoke, its voice barely above a whisper, "What is happening, Director?"

The Director watched the blue figure for a moment longer then said, "Begin separation." A floating creature with long tentacles rose from an open box and floated towards the blue figure. It began fiddling with the controls on the screen like a well-trained dog.

Moments later, the small figure flashed then suddenly began screaming. It began changing colours, first red then purple then black. The Counselor moved in close to the Director in a hope to speak over the screaming and asked, "Should we mute him, Director?"

The Director raised an eyebrow but replied, "No, Counselor. We need to understand the entire process. Keep watching."

The Counselor nodded so the Director returned his full attention to the digital figure. The screams got more disjointed as the outlines of the figure began to flicker. And before his eyes, the Director saw the small figure rip into two, a second, black-armoured figure emerging from its blue-armoured counterpart. The two figures lay motionless while the science team took crucial tests on them. Once they had finished, the Director muttered, "Thank you, Alpha." The blue A.I. disappeared from the screen and moments afterwards, the new A.I. began to stir.

It talked with a voice that shook the Director to the core, "Where – where am I?"

The Director simply stared and finally muttered, "Allison?"

There was no response from the A.I. and the Director quickly regained his composure. "Place her in storage for recovery, Counselor."

The Counselor couldn't help the obvious question from being asked, "Her?" The Director glared at the Counselor who quickly changed tact and muttered, "Yes, Director."

The Director frowned and walked out of the room towards his quarters while the creature with the tentacles was herded back into the box. He had a lot to think about.

The Beta A.I. for example.


	2. Chapter 2: Super Happy Fun Swing

**Red vs. Blue: Dissent**

**Chapter Two**

**Disclaimer: Once again I still don't own most of these characters that are the property of Rooster Teeth. I don't have to do this every chapter, do I?**

**Research Station Adrift**

**Many Years Ago…**

Private Jim Mickelson stood bored against the rail looking down into the cloudy abyss below. Four nights he had been out here, not only is it freezing cold and he isn't allowed to go to sleep, but he just happens to be stationed at the most boring base ever… of all time. Effectively it's a metal base in orbit around a gas planet. He's not even sure what it actually does. He knew it used to be a mine of some sort but the workers left and the machines stopped a long time ago. Even though they're the only ones there and the mine is no longer in service, the sergeant insists on keeping the machinery in working order and daily patrols to guard the base. However Mickelson hadn't seen anyone come to this base since he had arrived six months ago. There is one Pelican in working order and two small fighters on standby but no one leaves and no one comes.

Nothing ever happens. Wake up, have breakfast clean the machinery, complete the drills, go on patrol, go to sleep. Only now though, Mickelson can scratch off that last step to his routine. How thrilling. As Mickelson trudges around the base, his feet feel like they are tied to bricks, the rifle on his back feels like he carrying a tank. Any moment now, he'll collapse for exhaustion and he won't wake for a long time. If someone did turn up with bad intentions, then Mickelson doubted he would be able to do much to stop the intruder from knocking him down and killing him with his own gun. He'd call command for improper treatment if there were anyone to call.

All this just because one night when Private Francis had taken a few of the sergeant's beers from the fridge Mickelson had made some obscene comments on the sergeant's wife, a woman he had never even met before. They had been insulting the sergeant for hours but it was then that he had decided to turn up and catch Mickelson mid-sentence. The others had been punished of course but it was Mickelson who copped the harshest punishment of all.

Muttering under his breath, eyes barely seeing, he completely missed the orange figure sneak up behind him and slit his throat.

**New Harkens**

Blood.

That was the first thing Carolina thought after regaining consciousness. She could taste the sweet taste of blood in her mouth as her eyes opened. She could see darkness. Where was she? She could feel that it was ground beneath her, not darkness. As her brain slowly started to restart and sort through the memories of the last few hours she realised that there was something very heavy lying on top of her. Her breathing was shallow as she struggled to roll over. Carolina realised that her visor was cracked. Her thoughts and memories came flooding back all at once. The drop, the gunfire and… Wash.

The memories and the anger directed at the Insurrection spurred her on and she found the strength to roll over and lift the object, which she now realises, is a piece of rubble from somewhere, enough to roll from under it. It was dawn, or maybe dusk, but the lack of light was the only thing that stopped the aliens from seeing her. There were three small aliens standing around a charred hunk of metal, conversing among themselves in a language that consisted of squeals and hisses. Carolina quickly but quietly moved behind cover. She could easily take out these three aliens but she doubted she could kill them without anyone, or anything hearing. And unarmed and alone, she doubted she would last very long out here.

The aliens were gathered around the hunk of metal, trying to pull something out of it. The three dissolved quickly from working together to arguing amongst themselves until a large figure stalked up to them and with a swing of its paw, it hit one to the side. Even in the darkness, Carolina could tell it was dead, the unnatural angle its head was slanted and the chilling stillness with which it lay. That was one hell of a slap. The other two were cowering before the creature that dealt the killing stroke but it ignored them. It took one look at the hunk of metal and roared with what Carolina assumed was disgust. It was only as it walked away that Carolina realised what it was. _But that's impossible._ But it was true, the brute strength of the attack, the armour which it wore and the paint that marked it. That was a Covenant prepared for war.

Carolina flashed back to the war; the death, the destruction. Suddenly, she was reeling, wanting to run as far away as possible. She was no coward but after everything they had gone through, she had thought it was finally over. How wrong she was.

If there were more of them, then she needed her rifle. But that was in her drop pod. Her eyes flashed to the burnt chunk of metal that the two remaining aliens were nervously standing over. Her pod. The two aliens had their back to her. The fallen alien's weapon was fairly close to her. Close enough for her to reach without them noticing. She moved forward quickly, snatched up the handgun which had purple needles extruding from it then retreated back into the shadows. She looked around. That big alien was long gone. She reckoned she could take out these two aliens without much noise and hide the bodies. However if the bodies are found or if she's heard then this city will become very noisy. Carolina looked around again and saw a glass window a fair distance away. She aimed the alien handgun and fired. The sound of the window was loud, louder than Carolina had anticipated, and the two aliens jumped in fright. After seeing their comrade killed it wouldn't take much to scare these two into a frenzy. Carolina even thought that they might chicken out and ignore the window. But slowly, the aliens moved off to investigate the noise. When they were gone, Carolina darted forward and peered into the pod. Thankfully her rifle seemed intact. She would have to do a thorough inspection later. She saw that the device that showed the map of the city seemed to be working as well. She heard the two aliens returning so she pulled her rifle and the map out of the pod and fled back to her hiding spot.

Under the cover of the shadows she checked her rifle. As far as she could tell, it would fire when she pulled the trigger. She turned on the map and was rewarded with the screen brightening, before flickering and dying. Carolina hit the side of the map and it reappeared this time staying active. Her GPS coordinates were showing as well as well as the rendezvous point. It'll do.

She clipped her rifle to her back and her map to her thigh before moving down the street, staying in the shadows. She stopped in an alleyway and checked the map. She was thirty kilometres from the rendezvous point. Carolina sighed, a fairly decent jog.

**Research Station Adrift…**

Agent Indiana of Project Freelancer let the soldier slip over the railing and fall through the clouds below on a long journey that only ends when the pressure from the planet crushes the body. _Wonder how long that will take?_ As far as hiding bodies go, you don't get much better circumstances as this. Indiana paused. That soldier had had a life, a name, probably a family. All that history would perish like the soldier in that cauldron of a planet below. Things like that used to bother Indiana, a long time ago. Not so much anymore. He had seen far worse on the battlefield, some of which he had to do himself. These days, it was always the little things that bother him most.

Turning his back on the rail, Indiana moved on. He stepped into a corridor. He pulled his rifle from his back and advanced down the corridor and into a large circular area. He stood on a raised platform that circled along the wall. "There are no enemy soldiers in your immediate vicinity." Indiana flinched. It took him a moment to remember that he wasn't alone in his head.

"Thanks Beta." He muttered.

He slid down a ladder to the floor below, still on high alert. Beta's female voice spoke again, "Your heart rate is elevated. You no longer need to be alert, I have confirmed that the area is secure thirty times."

"Yeah, I guess." Indiana lowered his gun, not much however. Beta decided to let it go.

Indiana turned right into an area that led to an elevator. It bothered him. Of course it did. There was a voice inside his head. It would bother anyone. He was used to the early stages of an operation like this to be silent. Just him and his thoughts. Now there was this… A.I. inside his head. It wasn't just this though. It bothered him just how human it sounded. It sounded like it was human but it also sounded like it wasn't. After so many years in the heat of battle, Indiana began to trust his instincts. Trusting your instincts can give you the split-second extra to dodge an attack that otherwise would end up with him dead. And right now, his instincts told him that this thing was wrong.

Beta appeared to Indiana's right. It appeared as a small figure in black armour that floated alongside him. When it talked, the voice seemed outside his head. "Take the elevator down to floor ten." Much better.

Indiana stepped into the elevator and sent the elevator moving downwards. The trip down was spent in silence. Indiana tried his best to not look at the A.I. It would be better for him if he continued like this was just like any other mission. But it wasn't. He glanced at Beta. It… she… whatever was watching him intently. Another issue for Indiana to get past. Basically, Beta is a computer. But it sounds like a woman. How does Indiana refer to her… it…

The doors opened. Indiana paused, "Beta, is there anyone in there."

Beta hesitated. This was weird. According to the Counsellor, it could completed a thousand programs in a single second. What was it doing, playing Pacman? "This is… an inconvenience. There seems to be something disrupting my sensors."

"Can you tell if there is anyone in there?"

"I wouldn't bet on it." Beta simply stated.

Somehow, Indiana was more at ease with this. This was something he was used to. Having to use his eyes and ears.

Indiana's armour was remarkably quiet, way more quiet than a hundred kilograms of armour should be, but still it makes a little bit of noise. Beta disappeared. Indiana would have told her to keep a look out for their target but he didn't dare break this unerring silence. Also he decided that it would have figured this out long before he did.

For a few more minutes he stalked around the room until Beta finally announced, "There, on the table at two o'clock." Indiana turned and moved. Like Beta said, there was something on the table. It was some sort of metal case, the size of a playing card. There was a strange symbol on it that resembled a circle within a larger circle with a line that extended from the bottom of the inside circle to the bottom of the larger circle. He clipped the case to his thigh just as he heard a faint click behind him. Instantly he moved, diving to the left. He heard the bullet pass centimetres away and slam into the wall in front of him. Indiana rolled, twisting so that he faced his attacker and so too did his gun. One bullet was all he needed. His attacker was sent flying back, a red dot swelling in his forehead. Indiana stood. _Brilliant_, he thought darkly, _the whole base would have heard that_. As if in answer, an alarm went off and Indiana broke into a run. He reached the elevator doors just as they closed. It was going up to bring soldiers down.

"Beta, is there another way out of here?" Indiana asked, almost shouting.

"There is one but you won't like it." Beta replied.

"Tell me where to go!" Indiana said. Beta led him to the other end of the room where a door opened into a corridor. There were windows running along the left wall. Indiana could hear soldiers charging down the corridor ahead. "Exit's blocked, Beta. I need options here."

"The exit isn't blocked." Beta stated.

Indiana struggled to see through Beta's statement, "What do you mean?"

"That is not our exit."

"Then what is the exit?" Indiana asked, frustration creeping into his voice.

"To the left."

Indiana turned to the window. Beyond the window was a straight drop to the heart of the planet. Indiana immediately understood. "You have got to be kidding me." The sounds of soldiers closing in on both sides were immense. Indiana backed up against the wall, his foot against the wall and pushed off, running two steps before jumping against the window. The glass was probably strengthened to protect against the harsh winds and debris but it was not prepared for two hundred kilograms of man and metal attacking from the inside. The glass shattered and for a moment Indiana seemed to be floating. Then he twisted, facing upwards and aiming his grappling gun that is fastened to his wrist to a ledge above.

He fired, the grapple flying up into the sky and attaching itself to the ledge. His momentum was suddenly turned skywards. Indiana's arm felt like it was going to tear from his shoulder when Beta detached the grapple and left Indiana rising up. Indiana twisted again and fired the grapple to another spot much further to the left from the original grapple target. It fixed itself and Indiana was sent swinging downwards in a pendulum but this time he actually did feel his shoulder snap. The tension on his shoulder ceased when Indiana began swing upwards. Up and up he rose and Indiana moved his body so he was upright once more. The ledge travelled closer and closer but Indiana swung to the left of it but carried on rising. He slowed and reached the top of his swing before falling back towards the ledge. He hit it with his stomach, knocking the wind out of him, even through the armour almost bounced off the edge. He just managed to grab hold of the edge. His shoulder screamed at him but he somehow managed to drag himself up onto the platform. His shoulder was definetly broken and he has probably broken a few ribs but he made himself rise to find a Pelican waiting for him. It was parked on a raised landing pad and Indiana just wanted to laugh. Finally some luck has gone his way.

He hurried into the dropship and slipped into the pilot seat. "Beta, get this thing in the air."

In answer, the Pelican roared into life. Indiana looked at the perimeter cameras and saw several soldiers rush onto the roof of the base. "Gun it, Beta."

"My pleasure." Beta replied. An odd response for a computer.

**Here you go everyone… or all seven of you. A longer chapter. I know, I'm too generous. Look, a good thanks from you would be a review. Please, see? I'm on my knees. Just review. Yes, that button there. Now, push your buttons. Plonk your plonks.**

**Nimoy has spoken… **


	3. Chapter 3: Jumping Off Planes, Stupid

**Red vs. Blue: Dissent**

**Chapter Three**

**Author's Note: Big news everybody! At the time of writing of this sentence we are currently at ****14 visitors****! Bloody hell that's a good start. I formally pledge that from now on I will refrain from making comments on the seven readers. I will instead make comments on the fourteen readers. Thanks for the help guys! **** (God did I just do a smiley? Got to calm down a bit)**

**New Harkess**

**Many Years Ago…**

_Where did it all go wrong?_

One moment Agent Carolina of Project Freelancer was sneaking in the shadow of New Harkess, next moment the morning was lit up like a Christmas tree. The ground around her was exploding as Carolina returned fire. The sound of a dying alien roared over the gunfire. Carolina pulled a plasma grenade from her thigh and threw it at a wall. It stuck to the wall and moments later exploded, sending dust and debris in the alien's path.

As the aliens tried to climb over the debris, Carolina ducked into a building. She ran through the first room and entered a corridor. She began moving up a set of stairs. She had to stay off the street. She was halfway up the first set of stairs when she heard the Covenant bust through the door below. She quickened her pace. She took her second grenade and dropped it onto the steps behind her. The entire staircase shook as the grenade exploded and took much of the staircase with it. Carolina didn't falter.

When she reached the top of the stairs she found an elevator which took her to the roof. Again she heard the roaring of the Covenant below her. They had been stuck in this city for who knows how long. Finally something interesting happens and you can bet that every Covenant for miles around would converge in.

Carolina reached the edge of the roof and leaped the gap between the roof and the next building, easily clearing the gap. She hit the roof with a roll before moving back to her feet in one move. She continued running for a moment before suddenly diving to the right. A long purple projectile darted past her moments later, embedding itself in an air conditioner system. She kept running, spikes and plasma fire following her. She activated her grapple gun around her wrist and fired it at the roof of the building ahead of her. Then she jumped. The grapple went taut and Carolina felt her shoulder stiffen. She swung down and was sent barrelling through a window.

She was sent tumbling amongst shards of glass. The room she had entered had clearly once been an office building. However most of the cubicles and desks had been moved out of the room except for a few tables and shelves along the walls leaving a large empty space at the centre of the room. Carolina was moving towards the door when three soldiers walked through it. They were all in Insurrection armour and walked with a confidence that made Carolina uneasy. There were the sounds of Covenant roaring and squealing in the room behind the Insurrection soldiers. Without taking his eyes off Carolina, the largest soldier, roared at the others, "Keep that lot out of here. This one is mine."

The two soldiers looked at each other before walking back out the door. A lot of shouting followed. Carolina's attention focused on the single remaining Insurrection soldier. She drew her rifle when the soldier lifted his weapon, a grenade launcher. Carolina dived to the right but still got hit by the blast. She was sent spinning, her rifle flying out of view. She tumbled for a moment before finding her feet and charging towards the soldier. He fired again but this time he missed. The grenade flew past Carolina and exploded on the window behind her. Carolina leaped and took the soldier down would a punch that shattered his visor. Not an easy thing to do.

The soldier was sent flying and the grenade launcher slipped from his grasp and slid safely away. Carolina didn't allow him to recover, first kicking him in the stomach and following up with a brutal barrage of punches and kicks. Somehow though he had enough strength to block one of Carolina's attacks and struck back. Carolina stumbled backwards, her rhythm disrupted. The soldier took this time to rise and lashed out with a foot. It caught Carolina in the knee and it buckled. She fell to one knee and the soldier capitalised, kicking her in the head. She slid back and hit the glass, almost shattering it. The soldier came after her again, looking to smash her through the window, but she moved, faster than what seemed possible and took his legs out from under him. He fell but she caught him in a powerful kick that sent him smashing the window and falling eighty floors.

Carolina rose to her feet, her right leg hurting after being kicked in the knee the delivering a simply brutal kick, "Moron," she muttered, referring to both the soldier and herself. Not the best start to the day. The door opened and the two soldiers returned. What they saw was Carolina standing by a broken window and their leader nowhere to be seen. Almost in slow-motion they raised their rifles. Carolina reacted instantly, diving for the grenade launcher that lay on the floor metres away.

She never reached the gun though.

Just before the soldiers pulled the triggers and before Carolina could grab the grenade launcher, the room flared and exploded in a white light. Then the white light faded, replaced by flame and smoke. Carolina was dangling over the edge of the building, hanging onto the ledge. She had been flung out the gap that had been a window and was only still alive because of years of strength training and an appreciated dose of luck. Well, the sort of luck that occurs to save one, not the kind that prevents buildings from exploding and one almost being thrown off a roof. Carolina doubted that the two soldiers had survived. She was probably only alive because she was low and to the side.

Carolina began pulling herself back up onto the ledge, her arms screaming at her but before she could pull herself up, a Covenant stood over her. It was one of the large lizard-like ones that were feared throughout humanity, Elites. It wore silver armour that seemed different to the normal variants of Elite armour. Suddenly it lashed out with a foot and sent Carolina tumbling down to the ground. She desperately tried to latch onto something by firing her grapple gun at the building but it didn't catch the building. She tried to gather herself and possibly figure something out, her head hit something hard and she blacked out.

Knocked out twice in one day, not her best day by any stretch.

* * *

**On board Pelican Whiskey-Bravo-Seven**

_They're persistent,_ Indiana thought. He hated the persistent ones.

Mere minutes had passed since their haphazard escape from Adrift, Indiana and Beta had encountered two fighters that looked like they wanted trouble. It wasn't long before the two fighters had missile lock. "Deploy flares!" The two missiles were foiled by the flares that were dropped from the Pelican. Two distinct explosions supported this. Gun fire peppered the hull of the Pelican. Normally the two fighters should have dealt with this Pelican without too much fuss but a mixture of evasive action from the Pelican, the obvious lack of experience of the fighter pilots and the slow decay of the two fighters gave Indiana and Beta a chance.

"Flares spent," Beta announced. "We are taking fire."

"Isn't there something we can do about this?" Indiana asked.

"Negative," Beta replied, "This Pelican is severely under equipped and there is a fairly significant lack of cover in this gas giant." The sarcasm was tell-tale but Indiana didn't really care. The situation had grown out of his control and that was one of the things that tore Indiana to bits. That was why Indiana preferred fighting on the ground, here you are limited by the quality of your vehicle and at the moment he was seriously disadvantaged. He wasn't even flying the plane, Beta was doing everything. All Indiana was doing was barking orders and even that wasn't needed.

Indiana had had enough. He had left his fate in the hands of others long enough. "Beta, I'm just popping outside for some fresh air. I might be some time."

Beta acknowledged this and so Indiana opened the hatch in the ceiling and crawled out. The wind was beating against his head as he looked out at the two fighters following them. "Beta, give me a flight-path to the fighter on my left."

"This is a stupid idea." Beta told him.

_Stupid enough that it just might work, _Indiana thought. _Yeah, right._ A blue line appeared on his HUD marking the path between Indiana and the fighter. So much could go wrong. "Beta, keep my thruster pack ready for course correction. This will look awesome." Indiana genuinely smiled. This is what he needed. After a fairly bad day, Indiana needed something stupid enough to balance it all out. He had a broken shoulder, smashed ribs and he'll probably gain a lot more injuries from this stunt but Indiana didn't think about that. He jumped.

The momentum from the Pelican left him and the two fighters approached insanely quickly. If the fighters move just a little bit or he mistimes this, then he has a long fall coming for him. They didn't move. He didn't miss. His knife bit into the fighter and Indiana's broken shoulder brought a bit of reality back to him but he was running on adrenaline now. The pain was flooded by it and it fuelled strength to him. He hung on. The extra weight on the wing sent the fighter tipping to the left. Indiana felt the wing move from under him and he clung desperately to the knife and the wing.

He climbed up the wing, the drag trying constantly to tear him off. But possibly breaking several laws of physics, he hung on. The pilot was staring at him from inside the cockpit, not quite believing his eyes. Boldly clinging with one hand, Indiana gave the pilot a little salute. Then Indiana lowered his hand to his thigh and drew his pistol. Normally, a bullet would barely scratch that glass, glass that was designed to withstand debris. But these bullets were specially designed to pierce armour and to be perfectly honest; Earth shatter-proof glass is a bit rubbish. "Baseball glove, Beta." The bullet hit the pilot square between the eyes and the fighter lurched.

Just before the fighter spun out of control, Indiana jumped off the wing into the abyss below. Beta in the Pelican slowed abruptly and Indiana came hurtling towards it. Beta timed it perfectly. Indiana landed feet first on the top of the Pelican. The fighter was now ahead and Beta began firing at the fighter with the Pelican's ineffective weapons. Realising that the fighter can't attack the Pelican from in front, the pilot tried to maneuverer the fighter back behind the Pelican. That was the worst thing he could have done. Because now the cockpit was in range of Indiana. He lined up the shot and fired. The bullet fired across the gap between Indiana and the fighter, smashing the glass and sinking into the pilot's head. Once again, Earth glass is rubbish, the bullet is specially designed and the soldiers didn't maintain the fighter very well.

The fighter, now pilotless, plummeted into the cloudy depths below. _Meh, okay shot. Done better, _Indiana thought. He looked around and whooped into the sky. He slipped back into the Pelican. "That'll look awesome on a Christmas card." He said.

Beta appeared beside Indiana and said, "You're an idiot. ETA to Project Freelancer _Wrath of Dissent_ one hour."

Indiana looked at Beta. Now that he had gotten used to the little A.I. he was starting to like it. "I think I'll take a nap." One good thing about having an A.I.; he didn't have to fly the plane.

**So what did we learn today? **

**One: Insurrection soldiers have no problems hitting girls.**

**Two: Hitting your head hurts.**

**Three: The laws of physics are just general guidelines.**

**Four: Don't mess with Carolina.**

**Thanks to StormBlue (Hope I'm pronouncing that right) for my first review for Red vs. Blue: Dissent. Cyber-appreciation, mate. Don't forget to read, review, favourite. Really, that sort of thing matters. I'm that desperate.**

**Nimoy has spoken…**


	4. Chapter 4: The Covies Have Come to Play

**Red vs. Blue: Dissent**

**Chapter Four**

**Author's note: Chapter Four, huh? Not a bad start. I know so many of you adoring fan(s) have been asking me, "When will you finish?" (How encouraging) so I am saying "I'm thinking at least twenty chapters." I have a fair bit of storyline left to write. Well, I say storyline. I definitely don't just write as I think (shifty eyes). Anyway, the story is going to expand a lot from where we are at the moment and I am genuinely excited about writing. Oh, and an answer to another question you fan(s) have been asking is "No, I don't just use this bit at the start and end to throw some bad joke pie at your face as you read." So… yeah.**

**Project Freelancer frigate **_**Wave of Dissent**_

**Many Years Ago… **

Agent Indiana was sitting on the side of his bed in the med-wing. He had a broken shoulder and four broken ribs. Usually it would take weeks to recover but during the past decade, there had been giant leaps in the science of medical technology derived from alien technology and altered for humans. With the new technology, Indiana would be back in action in a matter of hours. However for now at least, his arm was in a sling and he had thick bandages wrapped around his torso.

A woman came in. She was holding a data pad which she handed to Indiana. "The Director is on the line." She said.

"Thanks," Indiana replied with a smile. The woman didn't return the smile and walked out of the med-wing. Indiana shrugged and looked to the data pad which he turned on. The grave face of the Director appeared on the screen. It was extremely difficult to tell what mood the Director was in, he rarely gave off any emotion at all. There were no face-twitches, nothing. "Sir," Indiana said.

"Agent Indiana," the Director said, "You are injured," this seemed like not a question but a statement.

"Yes sir," Indiana said, "Had to avoid direct confrontation, sir. I couldn't risk the Level-1 package."

"I am aware of the protocols, agent." The Director stated, "I assume that the package is intact and in your possession."

"Yes, sir," Indiana replied.

"Is there anything I should be aware of?"

"Beta's test run showed good signs sir. Apart from that, nothing that won't be in my report. It should be in within the hour."

"Very good. Unfortunately, I am going to have to cut your break short, agent. I have another mission for you. The _Wave of Dissent_ has already changed course and will arrive in twelve hours. Your injuries are not too extensive?"

"Negative, sir. I'll be match-fit."

"Your briefing is attached to this message. I would prefer if you made sure no one else has the opportunity to read it."

"Affirmative, sir."

The Director's face disappeared and a file replaced it. Indiana presumed this was the briefing. He'll read it in his quarters.

* * *

**New Harkens**

Carolina woke to feel a chilling cold smother her face. She looked around and saw two soldiers, one in white armour and one in green armour. It was night. The soldier in white looked up and said in his traditional English accent, "Well rise and shine, my dear. I guess it takes more than an eighty floor fall to kill you." Carolina tried to talk but could only manage a groan, "Don't try to talk yet. That fall didn't kill you but you can bet your last penny that it took a lot out of you."

Carolina laid her head back and closed her eyes, "See," Agent Wyoming of Project Freelancer said, "Isn't it easier when you just listen to us?"

When she woke, it was day. She could see the sunlight seeping through the curtains that were pulled across the windows. She tried getting up but this time she succeeded. Her body felt stronger than last night but when she tried to talk, her voice came out as a whisper, "Wyoming."

The soldier in white stepped into view and said, "What can I do for you?"

"What happened?"

Wyoming took a seat on the ground. The green soldier, Colorado also stepped into view. "Well when our drop pods were attacked by the Insurrection, I managed to get out pretty much unscathed," Wyoming's helmet was off so she could see his eyes look to the ground slightly but Carolina caught it, "I saw what happened to Wash," he continued, "then you got shot out of the sky almost immediately afterwards so the radio connection was broken. I didn't see what happened to York and South but Colorado and I happened to land fairly close to each other and managed to meet up when we heard your little kerfuffle with the aliens." His voice dropped considerably, "Yeah, I saw the Covenant too. We saw the building explode. I think they must have use some sort of medium grade missile from one of the outer wall turrets. The entire building must have collapsed by now.

"Anyway, Colorado and I snuck over to investigate and we managed to find your body in the rubble before the Covenant did. We all know what they would have done if they had found you." Carolina flinched; she had seen what some of the more… carnivorous aliens did to prisoners. They wouldn't have made it slow either; not much to do in the city. "Thankfully though, we found you and brought you back here where you slept the day off.

Carolina tried speaking again. Her voice a little stronger but she didn't want to exert it too early, "Have we had any contact with command?"

Wyoming shook his head, "None. We've had radio silence ever since we landed." Colorado beckoned outside, "Oh yeah," Wyoming said, "There are a lot of Covenant and Insurrection soldiers out there. There's a reason that they have been able to keep our forces out this long. In all probability, they could turn this on us and take down all our forces in one attack if they were ready to reveal their alien allies. The Covenant don't seem to be full strength but well capable of handling our forces even if we did manage to breach their defences. They just have sheer numbers and strength."

Wyoming looked at Colorado then back at Carolina, "My advice," Wyoming said warningly, "Regroup. Find York and South if we can, then get out of this damn city. Retreat to our forces outside the city and take the first ship to the Mother of Invention. Even if we do our original mission, all we will do is let our forces walk into a losing battle. There's nothing we can do here."

There was something nagging at Carolina that now she couldn't put her finger on, "If they have the strength to destroy our forces, then why haven't they strolled out there and killed us?"

Wyoming shrugged, "Because the Covenant don't want to reveal themselves until they have to."

There was still something nagging at the back of Carolina's mind. "What if, they haven't attacked because there is something here they are protecting."

"Like what?"

"No idea but until we are actually out of the city, we should keep an eye out for something in case we are needed in here."

"With all due respect, we'll be lucky if we manage to escape this with any survivors. We can't risk our own lives for something that may or may not exist."

Carolina shrugged, "Either way, we have to go to the rendezvous point and see if York and South are alive. Protocol suggests that they wait four days after the landing for any help from us. That gives us about two days to get to the rendezvous and find York and South."

"How are we going to get to the rendezvous point?" Wyoming asked, "The Covenant will be searching for us. It won't be easy to sneak through the city without being seen."

Carolina thought for a moment but came up with nothing, "We don't have a choice. We either abandon York and South to fend for themselves or sneak through the city on foot. We won't last five minutes in a fire fight." Then Carolina had a thought, "Not without reinforcements. How far is the rendezvous point?"

Wyoming checked his map, "Fifteen klicks. Why?"

"That'll give us a day and a half spare. I have an idea."

Wyoming leaned forward. Colorado also sat down to listen. "We stick to the plan, the original plan. We find a way to let at least some of our forces in, and while they cause a distraction, we find York and South then get out of this damn city."

Wyoming leant back, "It won't be easy. The Insurrection will be on red-alert. They don't quite have our technology but they aren't idiots. They'll have figured out what our plan was and will be waiting for us. And our forces won't be able to distract the Insurrection and the Covenant for long. Like you said, there's too many of the hinge-heads."

"It's either that or trying to extract York and South by ourselves without a clear exit. Which do you prefer?"

Wyoming glanced at Colorado who simply shrugged so Wyoming looked back at Carolina, "Ok, how are we going to do this?"

Carolina leant back finally, "Give me a map and until nightfall and I'll figure out a plan."

Wyoming sighed, "Today just gets better and better."

Night came quickly and when the sun had dipped behind the skyscrapers, the three Freelancers moved out. Carolina felt almost at full strength but if she exerted herself too much for too long, then she would get a little woozy and she would require a stop.

They got to the outskirts of the city without incident. There were patrols out looking for them but at night, the Freelancers became very difficult to spot when they didn't want to be. At the city wall though, that was a different story. The city had obviously been designed to keep something out when required; there were large walls that surrounded the city that were easy to defend. Carolina had to give one to the Insurrection, they weren't found wanting on guards to patrol the defences.

She looked back at her two teammates who watched the defences. By their body language, she could tell that they weren't sure about this attack. "This is what we're going to do," Wyoming and Colorado both turned their attention to her. "Colorado, you and I are going to infiltrate their defences while Wyoming covers us from a distance. Wyoming, make sure you find somewhere where you can keep watch for patrols but somewhere you aren't completely exposed in case something goes wrong."

Wyoming nodded and said, "Should be ok, what's our target?"

"Gate controls. It should be over there according to our information for the original plan."

"Although we were expecting another three Freelancers to keep us covered." Wyoming muttered.

"Plans change, we were trained to adapt so that is what we're going to do. While I breach the gate controls, Colorado will break off and find something to send a signal to our forces. They're expecting us to open up the defences for them but will also be alert for a trap so we will still have to send a signal to verify our identity." She passed a grenade to Colorado. "Find something nice and flammable. It'll have to be something big." Colorado nodded.

"I won't be able to keep a watch out for patrols for both of you." Wyoming stated.

"We'll have to make do; if we don't send the signal then our forces won't advance. When that gate opens, this place will get very loud. Rendezvous back here then we'll look for York and South," Carolina tried to think of something else to say but nothing came up. "Let's try and get this done before sun rise." Wyoming nodded and ran off in search of a vantage point. Carolina gave a few moments before turning to Colorado and saying, "Let's go."

The two moved off towards the direction of the defences. They kept low and silent and somehow managed to avoid detection. Carolina had no way to tell if Wyoming was in position or not. None of them would have risked open comms in a situation like this even if any of their radios worked. Wyoming and Colorado's radios didn't work while Carolina's entire helmet had been smashed and she had been forced to discard it.

They reached a cross-roads and Carolina turned to Colorado, "I won't open the gate until you start the signal. Make it loud." Colorado nodded and turned right. Carolina went left.

She was about fifty metres from the gate control building when she saw a patrol heading her way. There was nowhere to hide except for one place. She was on a fairly high bridge-like structure. Carolina climbed over the side and over the side. She climbed down so that she was practically invisible to someone who wasn't specifically looking. She saw two guards walk over the bridge structure and join the two guards who were guarding the door into the gate controls building, which was effectively a shed. The four guards began talking amongst themselves and it didn't seem like they were going to stop soon. _Hurry up and leave already,_ Carolina thought angrily. Colorado was going to blow the signal any moment.

He did. It was almost like an answer. The loud boom was like a thunderclap and the night lit up by the large explosion. The entire defence network shook. She had run out of time to wait. She pulled herself up onto the bridge with a flourish, drew her rifle and shot two of the guards, stealth no longer an issue. She was about to take out the other two who were raising their guns almost in slow-motion when they were taken out by sniper fire. _At least Wyoming isn't too bored_.

She entered the gate controls building and shot the single worker inside. She rushed to the controls and studied them. She fumbled with the controls and after about a minute of fiddling, the gates started to open. The opening of the gate started the music. The sounds of distant Warthogs filled the air as the Freelancer forces moved in on the now open defences. There was the noise of yelling outside responded to by sniper fire which resulted in screaming. The door opened to reveal a guard trying to avoid the sniper fire by hiding inside the building, momentarily forgetting why they were there in the first place. He realised much too late. As he began to turn, Carolina shot him. She moved out of the gate control building and began moving towards the rendezvous point.

By now Warthogs were entering the city and opening fire on the Insurrection soldiers. Carolina took care to keep down when a Warthog drove by. Even though she was on their side, in this darkness, the blood fuelled soldiers were likely going to fire on her before they realise that she is on their team. So she tried to stay out of their way.

She met Colorado and Wyoming at the rendezvous point as planned and they all nodded to each other. "Good job, Colorado," Carolina said. Colorado nodded before something else drew his attention. Wyoming and Carolina spotted it a moment later. A flaming Warthog came tumbling towards them and they all had to dive out of the way to avoid being squashed. Following it was a large purple tank, a Wraith. They had all been expecting this. The Project Freelancer forces never really stood a chance. If it had just been the Insurrection then the Freelancers should have been able to overwhelm the enemy but this changed the game entirely for the Freelancer forces. They weren't prepared, they were outnumbered and outgunned. All because of one reason.

The Covenant had come to play.

**Is this chapter okay? It starts off a little slow with all the talking but it was kind of necessary. Sometimes you need a change of pace to gather you're thoughts. I didn't leave you guys without any action though, did I? Anyway, more action coming up next time. Love you all! X0X0**

**Nimoy has spoken…**


	5. Chapter 5: They Went All Fiery and Shit

**Red vs. Blue: Dissent**

**Chapter Five**

**Author's note: Uh… bugger, I've run out of crappy jokes to waste your time with.**

**The Mother of Invention**

**Many Years Ago…**

The Director of Project Freelancer tapped a four-beat rhythm on the table in front of him. He wasn't happy. _How did they know?_ The answer was obvious, an insider. Someone feeding them information. But who? The rhythm grew louder and louder as his frustration grew. It wasn't long before his finger was hurting. _I'm going to need time to think about this._

"Director," the Director stopped and turned. The Counsellor was waiting nervously with his data pad in hand. "I have the report from the men on the ground."

The Counsellor paused and the Director snapped, "And what do they report?"

The Counsellor jumped and replied, panic creeping into his voice, "Foxtrot was dropped over the city when they were fired upon by the city's defences. Agent Washington and Carolina are confirmed hits, status unknown." The Director frowned, he still had uses for those two left, Carolina especially, "The rest of team made it to the ground as far as we know but after that we lost communication with the team. We were, somehow, blocked, sir."

This worried the Director a bit. Since when could the Insurrection block their communications? Project Freelancer had the most advanced communications technology in the UNSC. It seems that there are other forces at work here.

"It appears that our team on the ground will be too preoccupied to be able to retrieve what we seek. Is the _Wave of Dissent_ in position?"

"Yes, Director."

"Good. Prepare to send him in."

"Yes, Director."

The ship shook. Everyone moved to a wall or clung to a table to keep themselves upright. "Defence crews are prepped and ready to counter-attack, Director." The Counselor stated.

"Engage." The Director ordered. The guns on the _Mother of Invention _fired at the enemy, an old UNSC frigate that had been taken over by the Insurrection. Even though it was an older model, it was larger and just as powerful as the _Mother of Invention_. It was more than a match for the Freelancer frigate.

Another boom rocked the deck, "Shields are holding, Director, but we can't predict for how much longer."

"Deploy the fighters." The Director ordered. Teams of fighters left the frigate's hangers and flew towards the enemy frigate. The Insurrection had a similar plan and sent its fighters to meet the Freelancer fighters.

The bombardment continued until one explosion topped the others. "What the _hell _was that?" The Director asked.

"We're not sure," a technician replied, "Some type of advanced plasma cannon."

Plasma cannon.

The Counsellor reported, "Shields are down to twenty percent. "We cannot take another hit like that, Director."

"Then we will not give them the chance. Where are they?"

"They should be arriving any moment, Director."

_They_ appeared from slipspace moments later, tucking in behind the enemy frigate. The _Wave of Dissent _opened fire.

Taken by surprise, the Insurrection frigate couldn't defend against this new threat and before long, its engines were knocked out. Without it being able to move, the two Freelancer frigates made their move. "_Fire everything!_" The Director roared. "Send them to hell." The frigates bombarded the Insurrection frigate with an unending arsenal of weaponry. The bridge was the first to be destroyed and with their leaders dead, the enemy frigate was practically defenceless against the onslaught. Escape pods jettisoned from the side of the frigate. "Send the fighters to destroy the cowards. Erase them off the face of the universe." The Counsellor looked apprehensive but relayed the order.

A smile crept onto the Director's face when he saw the enemy frigate, slowly falling towards the planet below in a ball of fire and metal. The Counsellor noticed this and shivered.

**New Harkens**

"Right," Wyoming said. "How are we going to deal with this?" Obviously he was referring to the Wraith, the Covenant tank that was floating its way towards them.

Carolina looked at the tank once, "Screw it, _run_!"

And run they did. They ran into a narrow alley where the Wraith couldn't follow so the aliens tried to hit them with a mortar. The blast hit the side of the alley though and brought down lots of debris, all it doing is blocking the Wraith's clear shot at the fleeing Freelancers.

The Freelancers found an empty Warthog that wasn't too badly damaged. When I say empty, I mean there was no one in the Warthog. By that, I mean there were people in there but they were dead. So there were people in there but they were dead so they weren't really using it anyway. The Freelancers dragged the dead bodies out of the Warthog and jumped in, Colorado getting into the driver seat, Wyoming in the passenger seat and Carolina in the gunner position. Colorado started the engine and drove off. The rendezvous point to meet up with York and South was thirty kilometres due north-east of their position but this time they had transport.

The sun was rising in the east as Colorado weaved the Warthog easily around the abandoned cars and larger pot holes. They tried to avoid the fighting but still Covenant forces managed to find them. Their first clue that the aliens were onto them was when they were shot at by a Banshee, a purple Covenant aircraft. Colorado managed to dodge the green projectile and swerve into a side street. The Banshee grew bored of its prey and didn't pursue them. Carolina was wondering why it would give up when Colorado skidded the Warthog into a powerslide. This move was all that saved them from the hurtling purple Ghost that flew through the air directly in front of them. Colorado steadied to give Carolina a steady shot and when she took it, it wasn't an opportunity wasted. The machine gun turret bullets slammed into the back of the Elite's head and it slumped forward. The Ghost spun out of control, rolled and crashed into a building.

Now however, they were attacked by several Ghosts at once. Colorado was swerving the Warthog in and out to dodge attacks in maneuverers that Carolina hadn't thought possible with a Warthog. Agent Colorado was a fairly recent addition to Project Freelancer and you would be stretched to find someone it was harder to learn more about. He can hardly speak for himself and the only two people who know anything about him are the Director and Agent Indiana. She wasn't really on a level with the Director that she could pull up small talk about a team member and you couldn't believe half the things that come out of Indiana's mouth.

She focussed her fire on one Ghost and it blew up in a purple explosion. A shard of debris carved a large cut in Carolina's cheek. She remembered that she currently didn't have a helmet to protect her head. The front of a Ghost is heavily armoured so the best places to aim for are the pilot and the wings that poke out the side of the Ghost to stabilise it. Colorado swerved the Warthog again to dodge a Ghost when another Ghost appeared out of nowhere and rammed the back of the Warthog. In a flurry of sparks, the Warthog was sent spinning. Colorado was desperately spinning the steering wheel and working the gear box to gain control on the Warthog and somehow it worked. The Warthog ended up facing a side street and Colorado took it.

When they came out onto the main road they were met by a Wraith, a mere fifty metres away. Colorado was about to move into a desperate and probably a vain effort to save them when the Wraith exploded in a flurry of flame. Carolina turned and saw a human tank, a Scorpion trundling down the road. Colorado decided to drive alongside the Scorpion for a while. Probably a good idea. They needed more firepower if they were going to have a hope of making it to the rendezvous point alive.

The Scorpion moved at a painful rate. In an hour, they had only travelled ten kilometres. It was good though to have its firepower on their side. After a while, the Covenant forces stopped attacking the Scorpion and they travelled on undisturbed. When the rendezvous point was about fifteen kilometres away a group of aliens on foot scampered out of an alley towards the tank. The men on foot combined with Carolina's machine gun cut down most of the soldiers but one managed to sneak through the barrage. An Elite moved behind the Scorpion and planted a grenade on the back of the tank. Immediately afterwards he was shot down by a soldier but the damage was done. The grenade detonated and the entire Scorpion exploded.

As soon as the Scorpion was in flames, the convoy was pounced on by Covenant forces. The other human soldiers were cut down by Covenant before Colorado gunned the engine and the Warthog sped away from the battlefield.

A Ghost was passing to the side and Wyoming lined up the shot with his sniper rifle and slotted the alien in the head. It went tumbling off its Ghost and left behind. Colorado made a left turn and was facing another Warthog. Carolina realised something was wrong moments before it began pelting their windscreen with bullets. Carolina returned fire and drew their attack while Wyoming lined up his sniper rifle. His first target was the gunner who was sent back off the Warthog and rolling behind followed by the driver. The dead driver sent the Insurrection Warthog into a roll which Colorado easily avoided.

They were almost there when the Warthog was attacked again. An Insurrection Warthog came barrelling out of a side street and shot the Freelancer Warthog with its gauss turret. It would probably have killed them if Colorado hadn't instantly braked. Instead of hitting the Freelancers directly, the turret hit the front of the Warthog which sent the Warthog spinning and tumbling. Just before the Warthog tumbled though, Carolina moved. She jumped off the back of the Warthog and hit the road with a roll. When she was up, her rifle was in her hands and she shot the gunner in the head. The Warthog was still flying forwards towards her though so she jumped at the last second and hit the windscreen with a thud. The Warthog hit a wall and she was thrown against it.

Slowly, she got up. Luckily, she didn't hit her head too badly. She looked into the Warthog she was on top of. The final Insurrection soldier was dead. Carolina dropped off the bonnet of the Warthog. When she rose, her legs were shaky and she had to lean on the building to remain upright. She looked at their Warthog and saw Wyoming and Colorado crawling out from under the Warthog. "You guys okay?" Carolina asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Wyoming replied. Colorado nodded as well so Carolina said, "Let's go then."

The sound of a fire fight was ringing from not far away. The three Freelancers entered a city square and saw that a fire fight was indeed taking place. It was between Covenant forces and Project Freelancer forces. It wasn't going well. The Freelancer forces were slowly being pushed back into a corner. Carolina looked through the battle and saw… "York and South." She stated.

Now seeing a clear goal for the first time in a while, Carolina pushed off the wall and charged the Covenant. She could hear Wyoming and Colorado coming up behind her. They hit the aliens with force. Carolina shot one Elite in the head with her rifle then dodged a plasma attack. The alien attacking her was cut short by a sniper shot from Wyoming. Carolina blocked an energy sword swipe and countered by breaking the Elite's arm and stabbing it with its own sword. To her left, Colorado was vaulting a Covenant and sticking it with a plasma grenade. It detonated and the Elite vanished in the blue flames. To her right, the Freelancer forces charged at the distracted Covenant. The end result was ugly. The Covenant, sandwiched on both sides by Freelancer forces, were slaughtered.

As the last shot faded, the five Freelancers gathered over all the dead bodies. "About time you guys showed up! We've been waiting for ages!" York said exasperatedly. "Great timing guys."

"You're welcome." Wyoming replied. "Now that we're all back together let's get the hell out of this hell hole."

"Wait, what about Wash?" York asked.

The resounding silence was answer enough. "Oh." York muttered. South didn't say anything but you could tell she was shaken because her hand was shaking uncontrollably. They will all get over it. They're soldiers, death isn't unusual. But Wash was a good friend and it wouldn't be easy.

"Let's just go." Carolina muttered. They all agreed and moved out. They found a couple of Freelancer Warthogs and moved off towards the gate. You could hear the battle was still raging on somewhere else in the city but like Carolina didn't really care. That wasn't her job. That was the job of the foot soldiers, her mission is over.

Not quite over, it would seem. Because the Covenant hadn't given up on them yet. It started with a faint pounding, which gradually grew louder and louder. Her next clue was the giant four-legged war-machine that stepped over a building. A Scarab. Everyone had the same idea. They all jumped from their vehicles, just before the Scarab destroyed them with its plasma cannon. They moved behind cover on either side of the street, "What do we do now?" South asked from beside Carolina. "We don't have the firepower to take this thing out!"

Carolina's eyes were distracted by a flash on the rooftops. She only saw it for a moment but she looked for it. Again she saw it. It was moving very fast towards the Scarab. It ran towards the edge of the roof and jumped. _It can't be,_ Carolina though. Just their luck. The figure landed on the Scarab and dropped inside. The Scarab stalled then stopped. Then it spasmed like it was having a seizure. Alarms were ringing from inside the Scarab and Carolina saw the figure again, jumping out of the Scarab. Moments later, it blew up. The explosion forced it to drop one knee then it fell over. Chain reactions rippled all around it.

Carolina sighed, _Brilliant, that's exactly what his ego needs._ Still though, she was relieved. Maybe now it was over.

The others hadn't spotted what she had. They were all looking at the burning Scarab and wondering what had happened, "Looks like we lucked out," York muttered.

"Bet your arses you did," said a voice. Everyone looked around instantly recognising the voice and there stood Agent Indiana of Project Freelancer. And on his shoulder was…

"Wash!" South exclaimed. Indeed, there stood Agent Washington, back from the dead. He was leaning heavily on Indiana's shoulder and the latter had an arm holding Wash up. The rest of the team rushed forward, talking feverously to Wash, who didn't do a lot of talking, and Indiana, who more than made up for it. Carolina held back, frustrated that she didn't have a helmet to hide her emotions behind. After the events of the last few days, she just wanted to go to sleep.

"so, I guess it's over," York muttered.

"Not quite," Indiana replied. He pulled a remote from his thigh and pulled the trigger. All around the city, explosions rippled deep in Covenant battle groups. Indiana dropped the detonator, "That'll give our forces a chance to get out of the city. His hand twitched over the hard case on his left thigh. The others may not have noticed but Carolina picked up on things that others didn't. Questions, questions.

They began moving off towards the outer walls and Indiana walked up to Carolina, "Miss me, sweetheart?"

Carolina scowled.

"Oh right! Sorry, miss me ma'am?"

Carolina scowled even deeper. She could tell that Indiana was grinning behind that visor. She really wanted to punch him. She didn't though, she simply turned and walked away, leaving Indiana to chase after her, laughing hysterically.

Behind them, New Harkens burned.

**Hmm… Still don't have any crappy jokes. **

**Nimoy has spoken...  
**


	6. Chapter 6: Just a Small Inconvenience

**Red vs. Blue: Dissent**

**Chapter Six**

**Guys, please. REVIEW! I love you all as much as Michael Phelps loves Olympic gold medals but I really need you guys to review. I feel like the boyfriend waiting for her to reply to his texts. Are you two-timing me? **_**Review…**_** I'll have to come over to your house and find you myself. I know where you live. Just push your buttons, plonk your plonks. Please.**

**Mother of Invention**

**Many Years Ago…**

_So this is what we're fighting for. _The Director was expecting something a little… bigger. He wasn't stupid enough to underestimate the power of the thing that rested in his palm but he expected the key to the secrets of an ancient alien civilisation to look a little a little more sophisticated. It didn't seem any more advanced than a 21st century credit card but the Director was one of the few people who understood how much this one object, codenamed _Zephyr_ represented. Unfortunately, one of the other people was on the other team. Still, the Director had faith in the resources available to him. He looked at the Zephyr again. Even if it felt a bit too small, it fitted well into his pocket.

The Counsellor stood behind him on the bridge. "Sir, the _Cypher_ is in our possession."

The Director had to perform strong restraint from grinning wildly. He could almost feel the Cypher in his hands. After so long, it was almost in his grasp. It was going to change everything. "Get it on board the _Wave of Dissent _and set course for Halcyon immediately."

The Counsellor replied, "Yes, Director."

"Get Agent Indiana on screen now." The Director ordered. The face of Agent Indiana came up on the screen in front of the Director. He said simply, "Sir."

"Agent, confirm that you have the Cypher."

Indiana smiled, "Yes, sir. Yes I do."

The Director nodded, "Set course for the _Wave of Dissent_. Rendezvous at these coordinates."

Indiana will have received a set of coordinates. "Ok, sir. Anything else?"

The Director was about to reply when some shouted, "Sir! We have forced entry in Hangar C!"

"What? Hangar C, report!" There was no reply, "Hangar C, report!" Still no reply.

"Woah, we have red lights all over the grid!"

"We've lost engines!"

"Shields are down!"

"Defences are offline!"

The Director was momentarily struck but quickly gathered his wits. It was the Insurrection. Of course they would make a play for the Zephyr. "How is the _Wave of Dissent_?"

"Fully operational, _crap_, we're losing communications."

The Director turned to Indiana. He didn't have much time, "Agent, get to _Wave of Dissent _and get to the coordinates we sent you. The planet is called Halcyon. Do _not_ come for us! I am sending–" The rest of the message dissolved into static.

"We've lost all exterior communications. We only have internal communications left."

"Very well, you two with me." Two soldiers followed the Director off the bridge, "Send Agent Florida to Hanger D."

Their walk soon deteriorated into a run when the sounds of battle approaching reached them. The Director would be damned if he was going to let some filthy traitor get his hands on the Zephyr again. It was the key to finding _her_.

The Director had his sidearm at the ready. He had never used one in an actual battle before. However it remained frozen at his side when he stared, unbelievingly at the thing that stumbled around a corner. It was Covenant. The Director's hands were shaking as he backed away a couple of steps. The Elite was wounded, it had a large limp but that didn't stop it from charging the Director and the two soldiers. The soldiers raised the assault rifles and opened fire. The Elite was thrown back in a disgruntled scream. The soldiers turned to a side corridor, "This way, sir." The Director nodded and they moved into the corridor.

They managed to avoid any Covenant on the way to Hangar B. Waiting for them was Agent Florida in his blue armour. It was obvious that there was an insider somewhere in Project Freelancer but the Director was certain it wasn't Florida. That was why he had chosen Florida for this assignment. Florida was standing in a Pelican. The Director pulled the Zephyr from his pocket. "Agent, it seems that we are being overrun." The understatement was absurd but the Director continued, "They are after this, the Zephyr. It is half of a whole. The other half is codenamed the Cypher. It is in the possession of Agent Indiana. Head to the _Wave of Dissent_ and find him and his team. Travel to Halcyon and follow these instructions." The Director handed Florida his data pad. His prized data pad. Unfortunately, it was necessary. He couldn't leave his crew to die. _I guess I'm not as much of a heartless bastard as I thought. Damn._

The doors into the hangar blasted open and a mix of Covenant and Insurrectionist soldiers came swarming. The two Freelancer soldiers opened fire but were soon downed by a barrage of enemy fire. Obviously they wanted the Director alive because all he got was a needle to the leg. Still, the pain was excruciating. "_Go!_" He yelled at Florida. Florida didn't need to be told twice. He moved into the cockpit of the Pelican and took off. The Elites roared at an escaped kill but one of the Insurrection soldiers walked up to the Director and removed his helmet. _Damn. _It was the Insurrection Leader.

"How are you doing, Leonard?"

* * *

**Pelican Five-November-Eight**

Carolina sat in the co-pilot seat in the cockpit of the Pelican while Indiana talked to the Director. She first realised something was wrong when the voices in the back got very alarmed and tense. Then Indiana said, "Director? Director?"

Carolina called into the back, "What's going on?"

"The _Mother of Invention_ is compromised. We need to get to the _Wave of Dissent_ ASAP."

Agent Colorado, who was in the pilot seat, nodded and changed course, heading towards the _Wave of Dissent_. Indiana stepped into the cockpit. He was in deep thought.

"So, what's this all about?" Carolina asked. As the supposed leader of the operation, she was frustratingly uninformed on the bigger details.

Indiana looked up at her but remained silent. His helmet was off and for the first time since Carolina had met him, he looked tired. He ruffled his black hair which he did whenever he was thinking. Again he looked up at Carolina who watched him expectedly but he simply smiled and left the cockpit. She sighed angrily and was about to go after him when Colorado swung the Pelican sharply to the left. There were cries from the back from the Freelancers who weren't buckled in. Carolina looked at the radar. There were three blips showing on the radar. Enemy fighters.

The Pelican shook. "They've opened fire." Colorado swung the Pelican into an evasive maneuverer. The gunfire stopped hitting the Pelican but the engines were working overtime as the Pelican moved in unpredictable weaves.

An alarm went up in front of Carolina, even with Colorado's maneuverers, they had got missile lock. She relayed this to Colorado who gripped the controls tightly. He pressed a button which deployed the flares. The array of flares was dropped from the Pelican and moments later two distinct explosions was heard over the engines.

It wasn't long before Carolina had to say again, "They've got missile lock again. Countermeasures are depleted."

Indiana spoke from the back, "Colorado, remember New Republic?"

Clearly, he did because all of a sudden the Pelican began soaring upwards. The fighters fired the homing missiles. The Pelican was still soaring upwards. The missiles were gaining. The engines screamed as the planet's gravity tried to pull them back down. At the last second, Colorado let it. He stopped the engines and let the Pelican slow then fall back towards the planet below. Carolina flinched as the missiles flew past, millimetres from scraping the sides of the Pelican. The Pelican turned now facing downwards and Colorado gunned the engines. The missiles tried to turn to renew their pursuit of the Pelican but in doing so they hit each other and exploded.

Colorado sent Pelican roaring at the fighters and fired the machine gun. Two of the fighters managed to dodge and avoid the machine gun fire but the third wasn't quite quick enough. It exploded in a cloud of metal and fire and the Pelican flew through it. Colorado sent the Pelican back on a trajectory towards the _Wave of Dissent_, hoping that the frigate's guns can deal with the remaining fighters. The fighters resumed their pursuit and soon the gunfire was again attacking the Pelican.

That wasn't the only thing attacking the Pelican though. A loud bang erupted and a flash of light passed just ahead of the Pelican. Carolina looked at the screen, "It's the _Mother of Invention_, it's firing on us!"

It was a near miss and Carolina doubted that they would miss again. Colorado had other ideas though. Somehow he anticipated when they would fire and just as they fired, he performed a complicated maneuverer that was just enough to dodge the cannon. But like that was a message, the rest of the frigate's defences opened fire on the Pelican. Carolina had no idea how they weren't hit but the only thing she noticed apart from the howling gunfire and Colorado's dizzying dodges was when the gunfire stopped. Well not stopped but it got quieter.

Colorado levelled out and Carolina saw what was going on. The _Wave of Dissent _was firing on the _Mother of Invention_. The two frigates were exchanging fire. The fighters had broken off their chase on the Pelican to avoid being hit by the _Mother of Invention_ and Colorado used this respite to soar to the _Wave of Dissent_.

It was taking a lot of damage but Colorado entered a hangar on the side of the frigate not facing the _Mother of Invention_. Indiana yelled, "Colorado, open the door!" Colorado did so and Indiana sprinted out of the Pelican. Carolina jumped from the co-pilot seat and ran after him. They ran past the panicking soldiers in the hangar and into a corridor. Indiana opened an elevator and stepped inside. Carolina got inside just as the doors closed. The elevator shot upwards. Carolina looked at the button Indiana had pressed; they were heading to the bridge.

Indiana was tapping a restless rhythm on the wall of the elevator with his fingers. Carolina wouldn't have been surprised if he was leaving dents in the metal. His face was a mask of pure determination. It was a face that was different to the cheerful one that he usually wore or the tired one that she had glimpsed in the Pelican. It was one that fitted with the ruthless killer side of him. It was one that would send an Elite running and probably give it a heart attack as well. When the doors opened, Carolina was almost thankful.

Indiana ran out of the elevator yelling, "Get us ready to go into slipspace!"

Everyone on the bridge turned to Indiana and the captain asked, "Agent Indiana, what the _hell_ is going on? We lost contact with the _Mother of Invention_ and when it started firing on you we took action."

"Sir, the _Mother of Invention_ has been compromised. I can explain more later but we have to get out of here before it's too late. Do we still have slipspace capability?" The captain nodded and Indiana continued, "Set course for coordinates two-five-alpha-whiskey-four-two-niner." The captain nodded and the crew set in the coordinates.

Moments later, a member of the crew announced, "Ready for jump, sir."

The captain replied, "Punch it."

The _Wave of Dissent _jumped just before a lone Pelican could approach. It was left stranded, with the eyes of an entire frigate watching the space where moments before, an enemy frigate had been.

Agent Florida leaned back into his chair, "Well ain't this an inconvenience."

**Darker chapter this one. I try not to swear too much but, you know, whatever. **

**Nimoy has spoken…**


	7. Chapter 7: See Three Before Me

**Red vs. Blue: Dissent**

**Chapter Seven**

**So, how are you doing? Good? I'm good as well. What? I know, I am brilliant. Yeah. I know. Okay, I'm getting a little tired of all this fawning on how awesome I am. Get off. Ew did you lick me? Security! Get off my story! Bloody hell. Wait, I'm not finished yet –**

**Project Freelancer Frigate Mother of Invention**

**Many Years Ago…**

The Insurrection Leader punched the Director with a powerful right cross. The Director spat blood onto the floor. He had been strapped to this chair for quite some time now and it certainly wasn't growing on him. The Leader asked for what must have been the fiftieth time, "Where is the Zephyr?"

The Director replied for what must have been the fiftieth time, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

All this got was another punch to the face, "We know that one of your agents stole an object that you call the Zephyr from one of our research facilities. We also know that you would keep it on your person at all times. You wouldn't trust anyone else with it."

The Director glowered at the Leader who laughed and said, "See, you're predictable, you paranoid old man. So I'll ask you again, where is _the Zephyr_?"

It was the Director who laughed this time though, "So what you're trying to say is that I am so paranoid that even if it is certain that I will be captured and searched, I would still keep the one thing that can bring me happiness again on my person to be stolen by you. You disappoint me, Joshua."

The Leader sighed and stepped a table which showed an impressive array of knives and drills. He picked a non-serrated knife from the group and returned to the Director. "I really hoped you would reconsider, Director." He plunged the knife into the Director's leg and he screamed. Blood poured from the wound and tears filled the Director's eyes. "Not used to pain are you, Director? Don't worry, it won't kill you. That comes later."

The Director took deep breaths and muttered, "I will burn you…"

The Leader laughed, "You or one of your pumped up attack dogs? Either way, we can handle them."

"We'll see…"

"Really? You're pets have fled before the combined might of the Insurrection and the Covenant. We will hunt them down across the galaxy until we have what we want and when we do, I will personally make sure that everything you have built will come crashing down around you. I will bring your Freelancers to their knees in front of you and end their insignificant existence. I will make your name synonymous with coward and traitor throughout civilisation for centuries to come and when everything you hold dear is in the dust, then _dear Director,_ you may die."

Leaving the knife in the Director's leg, the Leader stormed out of the room. Later a medic came in and removed the knife from his leg and bandaged it up. When the Director saw his face, he almost laughed.

* * *

**Project Freelancer Frigate Wave of Dissent**

Agent Indiana sat on his bed in his quarters in the black jumpsuit that the Freelancers wore under their armour. He held the case in his hand, the Cypher. It was identical to the case that he had stolen from Research Base Adrift. There was the symbol on the case with a meaning that was unknown to Indiana. The Director had the other case on the _Mother of Invention. _That would mean that the Insurrection now had it. Somehow Indiana doubted it. A man as resourceful as the Director wouldn't let the case fall into the hands of the enemy without some sort of plan. This would explain why he didn't tell Indiana to come for the case. Indiana doubted that whatever the cases did worked without both being present. Otherwise why would the Director donate so much time and men into getting this one? However the message did end prematurely. The Director might have been about to tell Indiana to come for the first case, the Zephyr. If he did, then it was too late to do anything about it. Anyway, Indiana's gut told him that the Director had a plan to keep the Zephyr out of Insurrection hands.

Someone knocked on the door. Indiana stuffed the Cypher in his pillow. "Come in," he called.

The door opened, it was Agent Carolina. She took a half-step into the room and leant against the door frame. Indiana gave her a grin, "I wondered when you'd show up." She just stood there. His grin dropped, "I assume you want to know what's going on."

"Really, how'd you figure that one out Sherlock?"

Despite the glaring woman bearing down on him, he smiled at a small observation, "Six hundred years and that joke is still funny."

"This isn't time for games, Kane. Tell me what I want to know."

She only used his name when she was really angry, "Calling each other by our real names is against protocol." Indiana muttered.

"_Enough bloody stalling,_" Carolina roared. There was that tired look on his face again. She decided to tone it down. He had been trained to keep his lips sealed against trained interrogators. Her yelling at him wouldn't budge him an inch. "If you want anyone on this ship to survive then please tell me what is going on."

Indiana looked up at her. It was almost exactly the same to the time in the Pelican, "Fine, but the entire team should hear this. Sort of defeats the purpose if you're the only one who hears it."

The seven Freelancers assembled in a private conference room. It was a small room with a long table running through the centre. When everyone was sitting down, Indiana slid the Cypher into the centre of the table. Everyone stared at it. "What is that?" Agent York asked.

"That," Indiana began, "is why you were sent to New Harkens. That is the_ only_ reason you were sent to New Harkens."

Everyone returned their gaze back at the small case. "This?" Agent Washington asked, "What does it do?"

"I have no idea," When everyone looked to him for explanation he said, "I was only sent to New Harkens because circumstances changed so that the Director couldn't tell you what you were looking for. I don't know much more than you do now. I don't know what they are, what they do or where they're from. What I can tell you is that this is only half of whatever this is. This is codenamed the Cypher. There is another part of this codenamed the Zephyr. As far as I know, the Zephyr is on the _Mother of Invention_. The Director had me retrieve it from some old base in the middle of nowhere. It seems obvious that the Insurrection and the Covenant attacked the _Mother of Invention_ for that. That would explain why they attacked us with such a passion. They knew we had this and wanted it back."

"Question is how did they know we had the Cypher?" Carolina finished.

"Exactly," Indiana agreed, "The most likely theory is that the Insurrection has an insider fairly high up in Project Freelancer. High enough that they know when and where a team of Freelancers are going to be dropped into a city," There was murmuring as the pieces of the puzzle started to come together, "and high enough to know how to breach the _Mother of Invention's_ security and let the Insurrection in without us realising."

"Whoever this insider has the blood of all those dead soldiers on their hands." Agent South Dakota stated.

"And that person will pay for their crimes but that will have to wait for another time," Carolina noticed the looks of respect the other Freelancers had for Indiana. In a way she was jealous. The Freelancers treated her like a commanding officer at times and a friend at others but she never received this level of respect. Carolina shrugged that off. Indiana was a good soldier. He deserved it. "What we have to focus on are the instructions that the Director left for us. At the moment, the _Wave of Dissent_ is on course to a planet called Halcyon. What will be waiting for us there is anyone's guess but that is where the Director told us to go."

"Why don't we just storm the _Mother of Invention_ and ask him for ourselves?" Agent Wyoming asked.

"I thought about that course of action as well but if that was what the Director wanted us to do than he would have said so. I trust that he has a plan to get the Zephyr to us in action so for now we just follow orders."

There was an abounding silence as everyone in the room digested what they had just learnt. It's a big leap of faith for Indiana to trust the Director to have a plan but sometimes that's the hardest decision to make of all. To follow orders and trust a person who always has ulterior motives. But in Carolina's opinion, Indiana was making the right one. "I think Indiana is right," Carolina stated. Everyone looked at her. "We all know how ruthless the Director is and until this all unfolds, the best we can do is carry on and try to learn all we can so we can make a more educated decision."

There were a few nods around the room and the tense mood faded somewhat. Indiana gave Carolina an appreciative nod which was received so he said, "Okay everyone, you all know everything that I know." He gave a smile around the room, "If you have any questions, remember, see three before me. Goodbye!" With that Indiana left the room leaving the other Freelancers to look around at each other, quite flustered.

* * *

**The Bridge of Project Freelancer Frigate Wave of Dissent**

Calvin Latimer, captain of the frigate _Wave of Dissent_ looked out into slipspace. It never bothered him, the darkness. Many people are bothered by the empty blackness of slipspace. He imagined that it was what the inside of a black hole looked like; nothing, pure nothing. It wasn't like the dark of space. Space had at least a little illumination from stars and such. Slipspace didn't have this. It was nothing. That's what he loved about it. It fascinated him. It's one of the reasons why he joined the UNSC and worked hard to become a captain.

One of the Freelancers, Agent Indiana walked onto the bridge. Captain Latimer had seen a great many strange things during his time in Project Freelancer but none more so than the Freelancers. There were many soldiers that fought under the name of Project Freelancer but these Freelancers were so far beyond the normal grunts that they might as well have been planets apart and Agent Indiana was on a level of his own. Latimer had seen Indiana take on an entire warehouse full of Insurrection soldiers with just a rifle looking for an informant and come back out with the target alive. The informant had crapped his pants but still very much alive without a scratch on him. Clean-up crews took a very long time cleaning up the bodies after that particular encounter.

Indiana stepped alongside the captain, "What do you have for me, agent?" the captain asked.

"From what I heard, the Insurrection had somehow gotten into the _Mother of Invention's_ computer network and took out the engines, the shields, the defences and the communications within a matter of seconds from each other. They were then able to reactivate the defences and fired upon my Pelican and your ship. Thanks for the save, by the way."

Captain Latimer nodded and asked, "Is there a possibility that the Insurrection has access into the _Wave of Dissent's_ mainframe?"

Indiana shrugged, "I really don't know, sir. Technology isn't really my forte. I usually shoot things and leave you guys to figure stuff like this out. However, it does occur to me that the _Wave of Dissent _was in orbit for a lot less time than the _Mother of Invention_. It's possible that the Insurrection didn't have time to hack into our network."

"But of course, you can't know for sure." Latimer muttered.

"Exactly, that's where you guys come in." Latimer wouldn't judge Indiana as arrogant precisely. How Latimer would describe Indiana as was a savage bastard. He had known Indiana long enough to realise that all the smiles and jokes were just a façade. It was on the battlefield that the real Indiana emerges. After so long on the battlefield though, everyone gets a little uncivilised in the end.

Indiana turned and walked away. Latimer watched him go. _God help him_.

**BOOM! Two chapters in one day! I know. There was practically no action at all in this chapter. Now don't overreact – Ow! Who through that? Was it you? I've got my eye on you. Don't try to deny it! Anyway, hopefully you're all enjoying the story. I'm really churning out the chapters. They're not especially long but I'd describe them as bite-size. They're short and pacey like a quick punch in the eye that returns every day. If I'm a little slow to release future chapters, don't have a hissy-fit. I don't have much going on at the moment but that could change any second. I bet you wouldn't even notice though, would you? I'm not pessimistic, I'm just realistic. I think I might have said that before. Anyway, have a good one!**

**Nimoy has spoken… **


	8. Chapter 8: Cheeky Beefs Hiding

**Red vs. Blue: Dissent**

**Chapter Eight**

**No more jokesies for you mate. No more jokesies for you… (Review if you get that!)**

**Oblivion**

**Many Years Ago…**

Phoenix One heard the doors slam shut behind him. There was grunting and groaning from his men while they tried to keep certain death behind those doors. The roaring from the Covenant outside grew in frustration as the aliens worked to bust through the doors and collect their kills. Phoenix One doubted his men could hold back the tide of Covenant scum from flooding into the room for long and even if they could, the aliens could blast the door down given some time. So they didn't have long.

Phoenix One took off his helmet. It was easier to think without the HUD in the helmet distracting him. He ruffled his hair. His eyes searched around the room, taking everything in. There wasn't much to take in. It was an old room, ancient even. It was practically empty except for a few wooden tables. There weren't any windows to escape through or anything they could use as weapons. He turned back to his team and saw them fighting a losing battle to hold the Covenant out. Thankfully the door was strong and heavy and was possible to hold.

Again and again, Phoenix One spun, the ruffling of his hair becoming more agitated. _I am not going to die like this,_ he thought. But there was nothing that could help them. Phoenix One took a step forwards and the floor creaked. Phoenix One looked down. It was an ancient wooden floor which was growing loose with age. Phoenix One pulled off a plank which revealed a gap just deep enough to hide a soldier wearing armour. Phoenix One began laughing. The Universe wasn't finished with him yet.

He pulled off a few more planks then looked to his teammates. He took his last grenade and called, "Riley!" then passed the grenade to Phoenix Two, who immediately understood and pulled the pin before throwing the grenade through the door and into the crowd of Covenant. There were short cries before the loud bang of a detonated grenade muffled them out.

"Over here!" Phoenix One called to his team. They abandoned the door and rushed over to their leader who pointed under the floorboards. The grenade would only buy them a little bit of time so they would have to hurry. One by one the soldiers dropped under the floorboards and slid under the planks. Phoenix One was the last to go. He could hear the Covenant regrouping so he quickly dropped under the floor. He replaced the final plank just as the Covenant breached through the door.

There was a lot of screaming and shouting from the aliens as the charged through the door but that quickly died when they realised their prey was not where they expected it to be. There was confused murmuring from the aliens as they searched the room for their prey who they had obviously decided was hiding. Thankfully none of them thought to check under the floorboards, that their prey was hiding just under them, lying on their backs in helpless positions.

None of his team made a sound. Phoenix One knew better than to expect any less. His team was one of the best in the UNSC. It broke his heart that so many of his team had died today. Command had neglected to tell Phoenix One that the Covenant were in the area and his team was caught by surprise. Phoenix One would never forget the screams in those first minutes as his men died around him. It was a mix of surprise and primal fear. Phoenix One would never forgive Command again. What was left of Phoenix team had fled to this old outpost and had been defending it for the last two hours. But inevitably their ammo had run out and they were forced to fall back inside and were backed into a corner. Finally we have this, hiding beneath floorboards. If they managed to get out of this alive, then Phoenix One would thank a modern miracle.

Half an hour passed before the first of the Covenant began to leave. Slowly the rest started to filter out of the room as well. Three hours had passed before an extreme group of aliens finally decided to leave the empty room. Phoenix One waited ten minutes in case any of them came back before quietly pushing open the planks above him. He pulled himself out of the hole which he had been lying in for the last three and a half hours and stretched. The rest of Phoenix team slid across and rose from the floor like zombies.

When they were all up and ready, they moved towards the door. They quietly opened it and saw two Elites guarding it. Their backs were turned so they hadn't noticed that the doors were opened and their enemies were creeping up behind them. Phoenix One took out the Elite on the left with a knife to the throat while Phoenix Two took out the Elite on the left in similar fashion. Phoenix One looked around then started moving down the hallway to the left, Phoenix team right behind him.

* * *

**Project Freelancer Frigate Mother of Invention**

The Insurrection Leader waited as the UNSC symbol spun aimlessly on the screen in front of him. The Leader wasn't sure why but the console in front of him was emitting the old telephone beeping that announced that it was making a call. The Leader sighed. The Director was always a bit old-fashioned.

Finally the call was picked up and the Insurrection's informant inside Project Freelancer walked onto screen. "Joshua," the informant stated.

The Leader sighed, "You shouldn't call me that when we aren't alone."

The informant looked around, "There isn't anyone around on my end, what about yours?"

"No,"

"And is this channel secure?"

"Of course it is."

"Then why can't we talk normally?"

"Because we are talking through the Director's communications! We've searched thoroughly but you can never be too sure with the Director. So for now can we should just keep this about business. You should know better."

The informant sighed, "I know. I just haven't seen you in so long."

"I know."

"The _Wave of Dissent _is en route to a set of coordinates which I am sending to you now. They correspond apparently to a planet called Halcyon. I've checked that area of space on a star map but there isn't a planet there according to the official records."

"I'd be surprised if there was. It is easily within the Director's power to make sure a top-secret planet is kept off public star maps. Can you get to the Cypher?"

"I wouldn't risk it. Indiana has it and I'm not sure I can take the Cypher off him without him noticing and I can't take him in a fight."

"Then you will have to delay the _Wave of Dissent_ so that we can catch up."

"That I can do. Sabotaging the slipspace drive will alert the others that I'm here."

"I'm sorry but we can't let the _Wave of Dissent_ reach Halcyon before we do. Not with neither of the artefacts in our possession. If we can't find the Zephyr then we have to retrieve the Cypher."

"Where do you want me to send them?" the informant asked.

"I have a special place in mind."

* * *

**Project Freelancer Frigate Wave of Dissent**

"The Cypher is still interfering with my sensors." Beta stated.

"I know." Agent Indiana replied.

"It's like standing in darkness for a long time then returning into the light. I won't be able to walk straight for days."

"I'm sorry but isn't that a slight exaggeration?"

"Not really, why would I make that up?" Beta sounded offended. Weird. Beta was starting to sound more human every time Indiana talked to her… it… whatever.

"Oh, sorry, I just thought you were an ultra-powerful computer that can complete a thousand programs every second."

Beta crossed her arms and tilted her head in what Indiana guessed was the A.I.'s equivalent of a scowl, "I am and I can. Don't rub me the wrong way when one day, your life is going to be in my hands."

Indiana stopped laughing and frowned. He wasn't comfortable in leaving his life in the hands of something he didn't really understand. He had left his life in the hands of people on occasion but people he could understand. People, he could predict. Like he's said before, A.I.s were different.

"Look, until we can be sure that the ship isn't compromised, the one place that I can keep the closest eye on the Cypher is on myself. You're just going to have to suffer through the darkness until it's all over."

Beta sighed, "I've already considered that, I was just trying to make conversation. You didn't have to go on your little rant. Humans, you're so slow sometimes. It's like I have to hold your hand every step of the way."

Indiana smiled. Beta had turned that argument on Indiana like a pro. Indiana could get used to the little A.I.

"We're coming out of slipspace," Beta crouched down and held her hands to her stomach. "Something doesn't feel right. You'd better get to the bridge."

Indiana rushed onto the bridge and saw the captain and the crew panicking. He looked out the observation window and saw the fleet of Covenant ships arrayed in combat positions. The captain was shouting, "Everyone to battle stations! We're under attack!"

But the Covenant didn't attack. "I've checked the coordinates. This isn't Halcyon, the slipspace drive has been tampered with and our destination has been changed. Argh!" Indiana turned and saw Beta on her knees floating above his shoulder. She was flashing red and was shaking. At the same time, the lights went out on the bridge and all the computer systems shut down. There were shouts of the blatantly obvious that all the systems had been shut down.

"What happened?" Indiana asked Beta.

Beta slowly stopped shaking and looked up, but she was still flashing and flickering, "Some sort of EMP blast. It was targeted at the _Wave of Dissent's_ computer systems. My fragment in the computer system, it was destroyed." Indiana had a faint idea on how serious that was. From what he had read about A.I.s, he knew that they were able to split themselves into fragments of themselves and place themselves in multiple places at once, in this case, the main Beta in Indiana's neural chip and the fragment in the computer system, the one that was just destroyed. It was like having your arm instantly cut off. Beta had just lost a part of herself. "Stupid," she said, "What was I thinking, leaving a fragment in the computer system, should have seen this coming."

Still the Covenant didn't attack. They didn't want the ship destroyed. The Cypher. Indiana's hand twitched towards his hard case on his left thigh, which was holding the Cypher. Indiana turned and began walking off the bridge. The captain asked, "What do we do?"

An idea formed in Indiana's head, "Don't let the Covenant on the bridge. Keep the crew ready to pilot this ship and wait for my signal."

The captain sighed, "And I'll know it when I see it."

Indiana nodded, no smile though, "Yeah." He walked off the bridge, "Beta, I need a little more from you then you can have a bit of rest. I need you to call the team to the bridge."

Beta replied, sounding tired, "Yeah, okay."

* * *

**Oblivion**

Phoenix One sat on the Pelican as it took off into the sky. They had escaped, of course. They always did, in the end, in some shape or form. Phoenix One was disappointed. It was his fault. Command didn't warn them of the Covenant but Phoenix One should still have been able to get the rest of Phoenix Team out of there alive. He was sloppy. He could have saved the others.

There were other good soldiers in the UNSC that could be recruited onto Phoenix Team but it'd be a while before it'd be back to full strength. Phoenix One looked out the open rear door of the Pelican and removed his helmet. He stood up and threw the helmet with all his strength out the door. Two of the other three remaining members of Phoenix Team glanced at Phoenix One then returned back to what they were doing. Phoenix One didn't blame them; it had been a long day.

Phoenix Two called from the cockpit, "Oi, Kane, you got a call from some bloke called Leonard Church! He's got some sort of job for you."

**Cheeky…**


	9. Chapter 9: I Believe I Can Float

**Red vs. Blue: Dissent**

**Chapter Nine**

**Thanks guys for all the support so far. I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I certainly am enjoying writing. Geez, I'm getting all emotional. I promised myself that I wouldn't cry.**

**UNSC Archive File**

**Location: Codename Halcyon**

**Many Years Ago… (Like even more years than before)**

Dr Leonard Church stepped off the dropship and onto soft grass. There was a gentle breeze blowing that left the Director feeling refreshed after the ride in the hot Pelican. A Warthog pulled up and the head of security, Shackleton stepped out of the driver's seat. He walked up the Church and gave him a handshake. "Doctor."

"The excavation teams found something?" Church didn't feel like wasting time with small talk. Get to the business at hand.

"Yes, if you would get in the Warthog?" Shackleton's voice sounded stiff. _Probably intimidated,_ Church thought.

Nevertheless Church got into the Warthog and Shackleton drove him out of sight of the dropship. The ride took five minutes, all of which was taken in silence. _Good,_ Church thought. He liked it that way. He'll talk to the professionals, not the grunts with guns. Shackleton dropped him off in front of a large metal door that didn't suit the environment at all. Church was intrigued but since no one was checking this door then what was most interesting must be inside. Church stepped out of the Warthog and walked towards the door. Shackleton followed.

Surprisingly the door opened when he approached it. _Oh well,_ Church thought, _Less time wasted_. The door opened into a large corridor. There were several engravings on the walls showing various symbols that Church memorised as he walked past. Who knows if they might be useful later on? The corridor led to an elevator which Shackleton led Church into.

As the elevator went down, Church asked, "Why haven't I been brought in on this sooner?" There was a bit of an edge in his voice but Shackleton didn't flinch at all. He was a military man after all. Church had been brought in yesterday on the UNSC frigate _Path is Clear_. This operation on Halcyon had been in process for months.

"Dr Anderson was preferred as primary scientist for the operation." Shackleton replied.

Church scoffed. "_Anderson?_ Anderson's a moron. He could spend the rest of his life on this planet and he wouldn't find anything useful and make it work."

Shackleton shrugged, "I guess that's why they brought you in then."

Church couldn't argue with his logic. The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Church stepped through and saw the research team bustling around. It was a small team because the operation was top secret but the scientists involved were the best in ONI and the UNSC. Well, most of them.

Dr James Anderson was waiting. His features gave him a likeness to a rat which made Anderson easy to mock. He wasn't happy. "I can't believe they sent _you_ here. We don't need help. Things are going smoothly. Why did they send you here?"

Church walked past him, not even glancing at Anderson, "Maybe Command came to their senses and saw how pathetic we all know you are."

Anderson scowled, "Very funny Church."

Church looked to Anderson's assistant, Samson, "Show me."

Samson nodded and led Church through the research team, Anderson silently fuming behind them. Samson stopped at an array of equipment manned by scientists. They were all set up around one of the symbols on the wall. It was flashing red. Church studied the symbol then read the scanners. "When did this start flashing?"

"We were studying it when it started." Samson replied.

"Who was studying it at the time?"

Samson glanced at Anderson nervously. Church sighed. "You're an idiot, Anderson."

Church looked at the equipment again. Everyone was so loud. Anderson was a heavy breather. Probably genetic. When he walked he had a slight limp on his left leg. A childhood injury no doubt. Everyone was so loud. He needed quiet. He needed peace.

"Everyone get out!" he yelled. The others jumped in surprise, "Especially you Anderson, you lower the average I.Q. of the entire planet. I need quiet. All of you, _out_!" Anderson scowled at Church but eventually nodded to the others to leave. The research team filtered out of the room. Finally quiet.

Church sat down and looked at the symbol once more. It was a circle with a smaller circle inside it. There was a line that ran from the bottom of the smaller circle to the bottom of the larger circle. Church closed his eyes and went into his mind gallery. For years he had been storing information and images in his mind locked away deep in his memories in storage. This was why he needed quiet. This required a lot of concentration.

Church went into his mind and went through all the images he had stored away. Every symbol he had memorised throughout the years. He was perhaps the leader in the study of alien languages among other things and this was an alien language. It was the remnant of an ancient civilisation that few could recognise and fewer still could translate it. Fortunately for ONI, Dr Leonard Church was one of those few.

Church went through every symbol that he knew of in the alien language. It was long work. Finally, he found it. Yes, it was the exact same symbol. Along with the symbol was the translation:

_Reclaimer_

* * *

**Project Freelancer Frigate **_**Wave of Dissent**_

Agent Carolina had been moving towards the bridge to check up on how the re-entry into normal space had gone when the power went out. The entire ship shuddered and the lights went out. The entire ship went quiet. No alarms blared and no warning lights flashed. Just darkness. Moments later, Carolina felt the anchor of floor under her boots drop from under her and she rose. Carolina activated the lights on her helmet and suddenly she could see, or at least a little.

She reached around and felt the ceiling of the hallway she was in. She was floating. Someone or something had turned off the artificial gravity throughout the ship. She had to find out what was going on. The radio in her helmet sparked into life at that moment. It was Beta, "Agent Indiana requires your presence on the bridge. We are under attack." The A.I. sounded tired. There were affirmatives from the rest of the team and Carolina asked, "What is going on, Beta?"

Beta's voice was sounding softer and it simply said, "We are under attack."

Beta signed off and Carolina got to work. Carolina managed to reach the door at the end of the hallway by pushing off the various indents and objects fixed to the ceiling and the walls. Without power, the door wouldn't open. Carolina accessed the wiring by the door and tripped the lock mechanism. She heard the door clunk as the door unlocked and opened slightly. Carolina pushed open a gap large enough for her armour to fit through and slipped through.

Luckily the entrance to an elevator was in the room following the door and Carolina moved towards the door to the elevator. She used the same trick as before to open the elevator and entered the elevator shaft. The elevator was currently on a different floor so Carolina floated in the empty elevator shaft. The bridge was on the uppermost floor of the frigate which was floor fifty. Carolina was currently on floor twenty-four. Carolina sighed and began her twenty-six floor scale up the elevator shaft.

Climbing the shaft wasn't difficult. One push off a pipe that was fixed to the wall of the shaft and she was away. It was slow progress but it was steady progress. She willed herself to go faster but unfortunately the laws of physics weren't general guidelines and would not oblige. Carolina felt anxious for her teammates. Ever since Indiana had saved the day and joined the team, he had more or less taken control of the team. And she had let him. That was so out of character for her it made Carolina sick. Was she… intimidated by him?

Carolina was snapped out of thought by two loud roars. Her vision refocused and she saw the origins of the roars. Two armoured Brutes were rushing down at her from above. The one in front wielded a hammer that was as tall as Carolina. The other was holding a gun. In the blink of an eye, Carolina drew the pistol at her side and shot the gun-wielding Brute in the face. The force of the bullet sent the Brute shooting back upwards from whence it came.

The Brute wielding the hammer looked back at its companion which probably saved its life at that point. Carolina fired again and it hit the armoured back of the helmet and sent the Brute tumbling into the wall. It recovered remarkably quickly and pushed off against the wall at Carolina again. It blocked a bullet with its hammer then swung at Carolina with a back-hand smash. Carolina leaped over the swing by pushing off the wall and fired at the Brute again at point blank range but somehow the Brute blocked it again by taking the bullet to the top of the helmet. It grabbed Carolina by the ankle and swung her into the wall of the elevator shaft. It roared again, sending spittle against Carolina's helmet, restricting her vision.

She kicked out with her feet and hit the Brute in the chest. It was thrown back into opposite wall with a loud crash. She had lost her pistol somewhere in the mess of wall debris and she had no time to look for it. Instead she wiped the spit from her helmet, drew her knife and pushed off the wall. Instead of charging straight at the Brute, she instead went for the wall on her right the pushed off again. In the restricted space, the Brute couldn't swing its hammer accurately and hit Carolina before she plunged the knife into its face. The battle-roar of fury suddenly changed to a squeal of agony in a comical fashion and Carolina twisted the knife into its brain, changing the pitch of its squeals before it cutting out.

Carolina jumped back, pulling the knife out of the Brute's head. For a moment she was fascinated by how the blood floated in balls before she remembered what she had to do and restarted her journey up the shaft. She passed the second Brute on her way up, the one she had shot in the face, without regarding it and continued her ascension. For some reason she thought of her mother, and remembered that day; the day when her childhood ended; the day when she lost her mother. She wondered if she had died like this, without a second thought by a faceless enemy.

The thoughts of the past and the pain were replaced by thoughts of her team, of her new purpose. They needed her and this time she could help.

* * *

_Fields of love,_

_rain drops of joy._

_You hear friends saying,_

_you're mommys little boy._

_Mommy can you play,_

_mommy will you stay._

_Walk a little straighter mommy,_

_because you're leading me this way._

_Mommy please don't leave,_

_it's not your turn to go._

_I'm sitting in this waiting chair,_

_praying your blood will flow._

_Please don't leave,_

_I need you here._

_So my life,_

_can be perfectly clear._

_Pull through this,_

_I know that you can._

_Come on mommy,_

_it's mommys little man._

_Mommy can you here me?_

_please say you do._

_Come on mommy,_

_I know you'll pull through._

_I love you mommy,_

_nothing is going to change._

_Mommy please try,_

_so my life can stay the same._

_Please try, please try!_

_It's not your turn,_

_you can not die._

_Mommy I love you,_

_I know you love me too._

_That is why you've got to make it,_

_please make it through._

_I've said enough,_

_I know that you can do it._

_Please stay with me,_

_I know you'll pull through it._

_I Love You Mommy!_

**Lauren M. Duncan**

**Wow… it's been awhile. Sorry for the long delay, I've been a bit busy and I haven't had time to write this chapter. I hope this chapter makes up for the long delay, if not then I apologize. Please forgive me…**


	10. Chapter 10: More Jumping off Planes

Red vs. Blue: Dissent

Chapter 10

**I just figured out how to put a horizontal line in my writing. I only just realised that now. Unfortunately I only have access to Chapters 8 and 9 so those are the only ones I've changed. I am just amazing with computers… sigh**

**Texas, Earth**

**Many Years Ago…**

It was raining that night.

A young girl played on the floor of her room with her teddy bear. The teddy bear only had one eye. It was an old bear that had once been played with by the girl's mother in her youth and before that the girl's grandmother. In all fairness the bear has stood the test of time remarkably well and it did its purpose well. It was the girl's friend, her only friend. It was always at the girl's side, it was there during the good times, when they played together in the fields behind the house, and it was there during the bad times, when the girl cried in the night because of loneliness.

The bear was a very good teddy bear and it was loved by the girl as much as a girl could love a teddy bear, but it was only a teddy bear. It could not keep up a very long conversation with the girl. It could not comfort the girl with words of a brighter morning when the girl was sad. It could not replace the mother that the girl truly, desperately wanted. If the bear was alive, I am sure that it would wish that it could help, but when the girl cries it can do nothing but sit there and be there for her.

The girl's mother was often away, lost in faraway lands beyond imagining. The girl's mother loved her daughter as much as any mother but she is gone doing what she believes in and her visits are short and far in between, often for months on end. Often the girl forgets what her mother's voice sounds like, forgets the warmth of her mother's embrace, forgets the love that only a mother could give.

The girl's father was much closer but was also further away as the mother. In the absence of the mother, the father buries himself in his work. The father barely remembers to feed his daughter, let alone raise her like a father should. The girl was never tucked into bed, the girl was never protected from the fears of the cold and the dark of the night. Every night, the girl climbs into bed and valiantly tries to ward off the terrors that keep her up at night.

The teddy bear was the closest person to the girl. It was always there no matter what. It was the girl's anchor to reality; it was the only thing that stopped her from falling into the deepest recesses of her mind. It was her lighthouse in the endless storm, always steering her to safe harbour. It loved her as much as a teddy could, but it could not be mother, father and best friend for the child; that was too much for even the sturdiest of anchors.

It was raining that night.

The young girl was playing in her room when the car pulled up to the house. She heard it drive up over the sound of the rain and saw the headlights shine through the window. She rushed downstairs to find out more, the bear clasped in her hand, following her loyally. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and watched as her father opened the front door.

A man was standing outside. He was dripping wet but he was holding something gently in his hands. The girl got a look at it and noticed that it was completely dry. She saw the look on her father's face as the situation dawned on him. The man muttered, "I'm sorry," and the girl's father's legs gave out from under him. The man moved to catch him but the girl's father managed to grab a wall to lean on. He was sobbing. The man apologised again and that was when he finally noticed the girl. The look on his face was one of such deep condolences however the girl did not understand.

Suddenly, the girl's father regained his footing and rushed into his study, slamming the door behind him. The man watched the girl's father go then looked at the girl. He stepped into the kitchen and the girl followed. It was a good thing that it was raining and the door to the girl's father's study was closed, otherwise the girl would have heard her father break, and scream out at the unfairness of everything.

It was a good thing because little did the girl know that that night she had lost both her mother and her father.

* * *

**UNSC Archive File**

**Location: Oblivion**

Phoenix One accessed the communications panel. The face of a dark-haired man appeared on the small screen on the console. When the man spoke he had a thick Southern U.S.A. accent. "Commander Kane bzzz. I am the Director of Project Freelancer."

"Right," Phoenix One replied, "What can I do for you, Director of Project Freelancer?"

"I am here to inform you that you and your second-in-command are being transferred into my organization. You should be honoured."

Phoenix One was not impressed with the Director of Project Freelancer's tone and he didn't try to hide that in his voice, "What gives you the authority to transfer myself and my man?"

The Director smirked, "I have the authority from Admiral O'Flaherty of the UNSC. Don't humiliate yourself in a battle of wits, Commander. I've read your file. You're better than that."

Phoenix One snapped. He had had one hell of a day and he was not going to take any more from some man with fingers in high places. His men died to protect men like this. He wasn't going to let this man walk all over him, "You may have read my file, dear Director, but that doesn't mean that you have any idea what I am above. You may be used to walking over people through intimidation and best pals in high places, but don't think that I am going to encourage that trend. You've picked the wrong day to irritate me, Director. I'm not in the mood to trade banter with some civilian with a fancy degree who thinks that makes him transcendent above us grunts who die for you. Next time you decide to walk on someone's back, choose someone in a better mood!"

Phoenix One hung up in the most disrespecting manner possible for pressing a button. He turned and heard Phoenix Two call from the cockpit, "Snarky, don't scratch me with those claws – What the hell?"

The Pelican stopped in its tracks and Phoenix One was thrown forward. He hit the wall separating the cockpit and the troop bay with a slam. Phoenix One stood and called to Phoenix Two, "What happened?"

Phoenix Two was already jumping out of his seat, "It's some sort of tractor beam. This Pelican ain't moving."

Phoenix One realised why Phoenix Two was getting out of his seat and turned to the seats in the troop bay. He reached under a seat and grabbed a large backpack. The two other soldiers in the Pelican also reached under their chairs and grabbed two similar backpacks. The bay doors opened as Phoenix Two left the cockpit. As he grabbed a backpack, Phoenix One threw on his helmet, slipped on the backpack and jumped out of the Pelican.

The air rushed against his helmet as Phoenix One plummeted downwards. He opened radio communications and instantly got Phoenix Two, the two other soldiers and the co-pilot. "Don't pull your chute until the last moment!" He yelled, louder than necessary but Phoenix One could barely hear himself over the wind rushing past him. "If you pull your chute too early, you'll be sitting ducks for their snipers!"

There were affirmatives from the others. The co-pilot sounded shaky over the radio though.

The ground was slowly growing larger and larger as the ground rushed up to meet them. The rate at which the ground was growing was getting faster and faster and when the co-pilot spoke on the radio, he was panicking. "We're going to die on impact! We've got to pull our chutes!"

Phoenix One yelled quickly, "No! Wait!"

The co-pilot ignored him, "Pulling chute!"

There was silence from the co-pilot as his chute opened and for a moment Phoenix One wondered if he was wrong. Then came the scream. The co-pilot screamed as an enemy sniper took a shot and hit him. That was why they couldn't pull their chutes yet, they would be killed long before they hit the ground.

And so they fell. Several times Phoenix One thought to pull his chute but he kept muttering on the radio, "Wait for it, wait for it."

Finally when he couldn't wait any longer, he yelled, "_Now!_" He pulled the cords that activated the parachute and suddenly he felt the parachute catch bucket-fulls of air. His legs swung violently as he was thrown about in the air. He heard something flash past close to him. The enemy was shooting at him. A shot passed so close to his leg, he felt the heat on his calf. Moments later another shot came and it hit one of the cords attaching the parachute to the backpack. It also came in on such an angle that it hit part of the second cord as well. Phoenix One fell as the parachute was made useless. Then the second cord snapped and Phoenix One was separated from the parachute.

As the ground rushed up, Phoenix One tried to hit the ground in a roll. He didn't know if it would work but in those moments of adrenaline and fear, he thought of those old Earth movies and he tried. He hit the ground. If the roll worked, Phoenix One didn't know. What he did know was that he hit a slope and he bounced off it. He landed on his right shoulder and he felt it crunch under his weight. Phoenix One rebounded and landed in a river.

Phoenix One went under. He didn't have any problems with air; these suits were built to last at least for a little while in space. What was a problem was the weight of the armour stopped him from being able to resurface. Phoenix One felt his feet touch the riverbed and with as much strength as he could muster, he pushed up and towards the shoreline. His armour threatened to pull him back under but finally he broke the surface of the water. He grabbed hold of the shore and wouldn't let go. He clawed himself free of the water then collapsed.

This was crazy. Minutes before he was yelling at some old man while on a Pelican back to base, now he was neck-deep in danger again.

"Just my luck…" Phoenix One muttered.

* * *

**Project Freelancer Frigate **_**Wave of Dissent**_

After scaling the elevator shaft without facing any other Covenant, the path to the bridge was clear. Agent Carolina pushed off against the far wall of the elevator shaft and shot through the straight corridor. She landed on the door to the bridge and called out, "This is Agent Carolina of Project Freelancer, open this door!"

Slowly the door opened and York helped her in. "You sound pissed. What happened to you?"

Carolina wasn't listening. She looked through the large windows of the bridge and saw the giant Covenant fleet. She was snapped out of her shock by York calling her name, "Carolina, Indiana and the others are waiting."

They floated passed people fussing over the bridge trying to get the power back on. Indiana, the other Freelancers and the captain of the ship were grouped together. Carolina and York joined them and Indiana looked up, "About time you got here, fearless leader." Carolina didn't think he meant anything by it. Indiana was using that serious tone of his when he was concentrating.

The captain nodded at her and spoke, "The enemy fleet have made us lose access to all our power using some sort of E.M.P. We have lost access to all of our defences, shielding and communication. As you will have noticed, we have also lost artificial gravity."

"The Covenant attacked almost immediately," Indiana continued. "Boarding parties breached the hull minutes after the ship lost power and security forces have been fighting them off since."

"However, we have no idea how those skirmishes are going without communications and surveillance," the captain said. "We don't know where the Covenant are and we have no way of directing security squadrons."

"That is why we have to act quickly," Indiana announced. The other Freelancers leaned in as the business part of the short briefing began. "I think it is obvious that the Covenant is after the Cypher. It's why they attacked us before and now they're attacking us again. Clearly we cannot allow them to take it. We fought with our lives to defeat the Covenant and I am sure as hell not going to be the one to let those alien bastards get back in the game.

"Unfortunately, the _Wave of Dissent_ is a fish out of water. We can't move and we can't defend ourselves with the ship's weapons. That is why we need to get power back online throughout the ship. The Covenant won't destroy the ship until they have the Cypher out of harm's way. We also need a way through that blockade, which means we need to punch a hole in the line. We also have to deal with the Covenant on the ship before they take out key structure points throughout the ship. And finally, we have to defend the bridge. Lose the bridge and we lose the _Wave of Dissent_."

"That's a lot of work for the seven of us." Wyoming observed.

"Exactly, that is why we have four teams, one team to punch the hole in the blockade, one team to get the power back on, one team to defend the ship, and one team to defend the bridge. This is what I suggest: York, Colorado and Carolina take jetpacks and sneak onto an enemy ship then cover us. Wash and South deal with the Covenant forces before they take out the engines. Wyoming stay here and stop them invading the bridge and I go to the power generators and get the power back online."

"How exactly are you going to get the power back online?" South Dakota asked.

"The Covenant know that we can restart the power after an E.M.P. using the power generators. That is why that is one of their first targets. They will set charges and blow up the generators before we can get them back online, same with the engines. They'll blow up key points in the ship to snuff out any chance of a fight back from us. Keep in communications guys. I don't know how long they'll last but we have to have that ship to cover us at the same time as we restart the power otherwise this won't work. We've got to hurry guys, sync?"

"Sync," came the reply.

**Ah mysteries! Who is the mysterious girl with the teddy bear? How will she affect the storyline? Will her life get better? Is it really that obvious? Bugger…**


	11. Chapter 11: Dusk of the Phoenix

Red vs. Blue: Dissent

Chapter Eleven

**I hope you guys are mostly satisfied with the story so far. I'm trying my best to make sure that this story doesn't completely fall apart. Any suggestions on ways to improve this story would be deeply appreciated and can be expressed through a review. Yes this is just me trying to get you guys to review. You're looking awfully nice today… that shirt looks **_**great**_** on you… **

**UNSC Archive File**

**Location: Oblivion**

Phoenix One's body screamed at him when he tried to rise. His right arm instantly collapsed when he tried to put weight on it. _Bugger… that isn't good_. Since when did the Covenant have tractor beams? This is becoming more and more like some cliché alien video game. Slowly he managed to force himself to rise on his left arm and he gathered his legs under his torso and he stood. His legs shook horribly but they held. Phoenix One's right arm hung limply at his side and slowly he trudged away from the river.

Phoenix One activated his in-helmet radio, "Phoenix Team, do you copy? Respond dammit."

Phoenix Two's voice responded, "This is Phoenix Two, I copy. I have Four and Six with me however Four is injured. We lost the co-pilot on descent."

Phoenix One already knew that, "I understand, what is your location?"

A moment passed then Phoenix Two replied, "Alpha-6-3-Whiskey-2-7."

Phoenix One set the coordinates into his GPS and said, "Roger that."

It took Phoenix One a while to reach the coordinates Phoenix Two had sent him. Slowly, Phoenix One's legs started to regain their strength and he transitioned from requiring to lean against rocks to being able to walk, albeit fairly slowly, on his own. On the way, Phoenix One scanned the terrain around him. The area was mostly barren rock and centred around the river that ran through the heart of the terrain. The area itself was a gap between two rock walls following the river downhill. The sun was setting behind the rock wall to the west and darkness started to engulf the area.

He found Phoenix Team in a secluded area. Phoenix One saw Phoenix Six first, as Six was keeping an eye out. Phoenix One nodded and passed Six without a word; he was too tired to do much talking. He found Phoenix Two crouched over the lying down figure of Phoenix Four. Both their helmets were off and as Phoenix One approached, he noticed the sweat pouring down Four's face.

Phoenix Two looked up at Phoenix One as he approached for a moment then went back to addressing Four's wound. Phoenix One stopped beside him and checked the injured man over. He had taken a bullet to the leg and a bullet to the shoulder. It was messy.

Phoenix Two answered before Phoenix One could even ask, "He got hit on the way down, wounds to the leg and shoulder. I've done what I can but I have limited supplies and as you can see, there isn't much around here that can help. I'm not sure what else I can do, we lost Three yesterday, he would be able to do a better job than I could. Phoenix One remembered. He was right there when Three was killed. He was a good field medic.

"You did your best, Riley." Phoenix One murmured, "I'm sorry Rick."

Four panted a quick, "It's okay." Phoenix One gently placed a hand on Four's shoulder (the shoulder without a bullet wound), then got up and left. Chalk up another soldier that Phoenix One had lost in the past week. He doubted Four would last the night.

He approached Six, "How's it looking?" he asked.

"I haven't spotted any Covies yet but no doubt they'll be searching for us. They'll look to catch us at night when we're sleeping."

"Agreed," Phoenix One glanced back Phoenix Four. "We won't be moving with Four in that condition. Looks like we're stuck here until morning at least."

Phoenix Two joined the two and muttered, "I've done everything I can for him. Now we're practically just waiting for him to die."

Phoenix One sighed, "We can't move him in that condition which means we're stuck here," Two nodded and Phoenix One continued. "There's a UNSC base north of here and if the sun set over there," One gestured at one of the rock walls, "Then we need to head upriver." The other two nodded. "How are we doing for weapons?"

It was Phoenix Two who answered, "We have two assault rifles and a DMR but we are very limited in ammunition and we have no grenades."

Phoenix One groaned, he didn't expect much more, "I've got an DMR with a bit of ammo but that won't last long in a firefight."

Phoenix Six asked, "What's the plan?"

"We wait out here until Rick… passes then we head out. We move at night then get some rest in the day. We head north towards the UNSC outpost quickly but quietly. We're being hunted and if they catch up with us then we surrender. If we try to fight they will kill us. We don't have the ammo to fight them off so if we are caught, we surrender and wait for the opportunity to escape. We can't do any more than that."

There was quiet but eventually the others agreed. Allowing oneself to be captured by the Covenant doesn't leave a much higher probability of survival then trying to fight off the Covenant and it will be painful but Phoenix One knew that trying to have a supposedly noble death with a last stand was just stupid and that was not going to be his last action as leader.

Phoenix Four didn't last two hours. What was left of Phoenix Team didn't bury him, there was no time. Instead they left him with his helmet at his side and his empty assault rifle on his lap and with the sorrow of the loss of a team member, Phoenix Team moved out.

They tried to be a quiet as possible but visibility was even with their night vision and Phoenix One cringed every time a pebble was noisily knocked into the river and every footstep sounded like giant drums to him. However, they managed to get through the night without crossing paths with any Covenant and by the time the sun rose in the east and spread its rays on the water of the river, Phoenix Team had shuffled into an empty cave. Phoenix Two volunteered to take the first watch and gratefully, Phoenix One curled into sleep.

He was woken by Phoenix Six. Phoenix One felt awful. His shoulder hurt like hell. The previous night, Phoenix Two had decided that it was dislocated and had readjusted it back in place however movement was still very restricted and last night's numbness was replaced by searing pain. He was also tired. His sleep was restless as he dreamt of blood and fire and horrible creatures that brimmed of brutality. However he took up the watch and did a good job of staying alert.

An hour into his four hour stint, Phoenix Two joined him at the mouth of the cave, "You should be getting some rest." Phoenix One stated.

Phoenix Two sighed, "I tried but I kept finding myself waking to escape the nightmares. We're going to have one hell of a time when this war is over."

Phoenix One couldn't help but doubt that they would outlive this war. Still he murmured, "Yeah, I guess."

Apparently Phoenix Two could guess what Phoenix One was thinking about, "You know it's not your fault, Kane. None of this is your fault. You shouldn't feel guilty for Rick or any of the others death. They knew the risks of joining the UNSC."

"I guess," Phoenix One muttered.

Phoenix Two sighed, "I guess this war really does change everyone."

"What do you mean?"

Phoenix Two laughed, it was quiet and short and mostly devoid of humour, "Since when was I the one who got you out of a mood?"

Phoenix One didn't respond. It was pretty much true. Ever since they were children, it was always Phoenix One who would take the lead and it was always him who was the voice of reason when Phoenix Two was down. Getting depressed wasn't something that Phoenix One did, where others got depressed, he got determined to do whatever he could to make things better. Even if he couldn't bring back the rest of his team, he couldn't let his emotions deprive what was left of his team's slim chances of survival. He owed it to them as leader to make sure they had as big a chance of survival as possible.

Suddenly feeling better if only slightly, he grabbed his childhood friend by the hand then gave him an embrace, "Thanks," he said. "We will get out of this, no matter how long it takes."

The sun fell and Phoenix Team slipped out of the cave as darkness enveloped the rocky terrain. As they moved silently, they kept a paranoid eye all around. There was something about those rock walls like they were leading the team into a trap. Phoenix One had heard about new armour updates that included motion trackers. Phoenix One really wanted something like that at that point. He looked at his rifle, _Maybe more ammunition would be good as well_. He looked at his teammates,_ Maybe more men as well. _He looked at the ground, _And maybe some sort of evac out of here._

Slowly, the ground began to steepen and Phoenix team moved up until the rock walls were below them. As they walked, trees began to appear, deepening until they were in a thick forest. The trees were huge and Phoenix One had an idea. "Six, scale this tree and try to find the outpost."

Phoenix Six looked at the tree in question and nodded. There were many strong branches that Six could use to climb the tree. Clipping his rifle to his back, Six grabbed two branches and lifted himself up, an impressive task considering the weight of the armour he was wearing. The speed he was climbing at quickly increased until Phoenix One lost sight of him in the leaves. Minutes passed which felt like hours until finally Phoenix One heard Six's voice over the radio, "I'm as high as I can climb now," he whispered. Silence ensued for what felt like a millennia until he spoke again, there was excitement in his voice, "I see it! I see the outpost, it can't be further than ten kliks from our position!"

Phoenix One felt his heart racing, "That's brilliant. Come back…" Phoenix One stopped talking abruptly. He was sure he heard something. "Hold up…" he whispered. Phoenix One raised his rifle, searching the darkness furiously. _It can't be. Not now, not when we're so close._ His heart was beating even faster than when they had found the outpost. _It wasn't fair_.

The silent night was broken by Phoenix Two shouting, "Kane! Left!"

There was a roar to Phoenix One's left and a blinding blue light. Instinctively, Phoenix One dived and rolled. He felt something swing just over his head. When he got out of the roll something knocked him back. Phoenix One went down hard. Before he could get back up, something large and heavy pinned him on his back. The object materialised and revealed a snarling Elite. It stood menacingly over Phoenix One and pinned him down with its large foot. The hinge-like jaws on the Elite's face curled into what Phoenix One guessed was the Elite version of a smirk.

Phoenix One heard Phoenix Two spitting curses at the Elites met with much louder roars. "Riley," Phoenix One called. Phoenix Two remembered what they would do if they were caught and fell silent. Resisting would only get them killed. Maybe Phoenix Six could get to the outpost safely but for Phoenix One and Two, that possibility was gone.

Phoenix One felt the pressure release off his chest as the Elite moved its foot then the soldier was lifted into the air. Phoenix One was lifted face to face with the alien. When he had first joined the military, he had expected the Covenant to have eyes of red fire and to be able to bust through dozens of men single-handedly. When he had finally seen one, he realised that they weren't quite the indestructible rage monsters that he had imagined. They, like everything else, could be brought down with the right ordnance. That comforted him when he was on the battlefield. Not really at the moment.

The Elite was holding him by the shoulders and the pain on his right shoulder was excruciating. However Phoenix One just stared the Elite in the eyes and even though the alien couldn't see through his reflective visor, he glared at it, wishing for a thousand burning hot knives to plunge into the Elite's soul. Evidently, the Elite had had enough because all of a sudden it threw Phoenix One to the ground and before he could defend himself, kicked him in the head, smashing his visor into a thousand pieces. It kicked again and Phoenix One's world switched off.

**Oh No! Will our dynamic duo escape the clutches of the Covenant? Will our Freelancers find a way to free the Wave of Dissent from the Covenant Blockade? Will our secondary characters have any effect on the storyline? Find out eventually! As long as you review. **


	12. Chapter 12: Stabbing Elites Repeatedly

**Red vs. Blue: Dissent**

**Chapter Twelve**

**If you have managed to persist with this story up to this point then I congratulate you. You have passed the first of several brutal tests. It must have been difficult, putting up with this story for eleven chapters and still you return for chapter number twelve! What's your secret? It's okay for me. I just have to write this. I don't have to read this or anything. How is that possible you ask? I'm just pressing random buttons. If those buttons happen to coincide in what you would consider to be sentences then that is purely coincidental. Anyway you have done well. Perhaps you are the one to finally review! Only one person has reviewed this story. I'm extremely disappointed in all of you apart from that one person. Not reviewing is like your friend giving hints for six months that he would like The Dark Knight for his birthday and you give him Twilight! Please don't go… I need you…**

**Project Freelancer Frigate **_**Mother of Invention,**_** currently under Insurrection occupation**

**Many Years Ago…**

The Director of Project Freelancer didn't acknowledge the new presence in the room until it had grabbed his head and slammed it into the metal table. "Hello Joshua," the Director croaked. Even with his head spinning from the unscheduled meeting with the table, the Director could notice the signs of dehydration in his voice. "You should never start with the head; it leaves the victim all… fuzzy."

The Leader of the Insurrection, Joshua, sat down in the chair opposite the Director. "Which agent did you leave the Zephyr with?"

The Director tutted but all it came out as was some rather indignant spitting, "Now I can't answer you properly. I couldn't possibly remember which of my many agents it was that I left such a small object with after suffering a very painful head trauma," The Director wanted to rub his head but his hands were restrained to the sides of the chair. "I thought I taught you better than that."

The Leader leaned back in his chair and sighed, "To be perfectly honest Director, I was hoping for something a little more creative from you," The Leader yawned. "I mean, really. You're trying to pretend that you still have some sort of control over your fate," The Leader thought for a moment then shrugged. "Okay, maybe I lied. You do have some control over your fate. Answer my questions with the answers I'm looking for and you will survive this little predicament that you have found yourself in."

The Director tilted his head, "What strange mood swings you're suffering, Joshua. The last time I saw you, you were in the midst of an uncontrollable and may I say, unprofessional rage and now you are attempting to act reasonable and sympathetic. But we both know the truth don't we, Joshua? You're just as insane as the rest of us!"

The Leader simply smiled, "I guess that's what happens when someone gets near you. You unhinge them. I almost feel sorry for your agents,"

The throbbing in the Director's mind ceased and the Insurrectionist Leader must have noticed, "Feeling better? You have an answer to my question? Who has the Zephyr?"

"Where exactly are you looking? I know it's a little difficult to check but quite often with people like yourself the place where things are hidden is up your –"

That's where we are, then?" The Leader interrupted. "Petty insults? You should probably know that we've found your little Hail Mary play and within the hour, the Cypher will be in our hands. What must it be like to fail so completely?"

"Not really sure, it's a first for me."

"You never stood a chance, old man." The Leader stated, completely ignoring the man restrained on the other side of the table.

"Why? Because of your inside man?" The Leader's eyes widened but there was something about his expression that the Director noticed, something small but the Director decided to take a swing. "Oh, it's a woman. Someone close to you."

The Leader's nostrils flared. He abruptly stood. "There we are again with the mood swings!" The Director stated. "You might want to see someone about your anger issues. it's not the best character trait for a leader."

The Insurrectionist Leader left the room. _I didn't mean to hurt his feelings, _the Director thought a bemused smile emerging on his face. It only grew when the Leader re-entered the room, fully composed. "I don't remember you having such a problem interrogating people in the past," the Director noted. "Are you sure you don't want to send someone else to try and fail to get any valuable information from me."

The Insurrectionist Leader's eyebrows raised, "So you admit that you do have valuable information in your head."

The Director snorted, "I'm the Director of the most effective project ever to be utilised by the UNSC. Pick any officer in the UNSC and I could take that officer's lunch money and his chair from under him and no one would bat an eye lash. Of course I have valuable information. The question is whether giving that information to you works with my schedule. Let me check… how about next Friday?"

The Leader sighed, "How can you be so narrow-minded, Director? We were both there on Halcyon when… _it_ happened. We both know what power that it wields. How can you think that that power would be best utilised by the UNSC?"

"How can you think it would be best utilised by the Covenant?" the Director retorted.

"It wouldn't be utilised by the Covenant. It would be utilised by the Insurrection, by _humanity_."

"Really, how do you expect to stop the Covenant from just taking _it_ from you?"

"The Covenant is weak from the war. We can repel any attempted betrayal from them."

"They don't seem that weak from where I'm sitting."

"They are not the same enemy that slaughtered colonies by the dozens," the Leader said. "They do not wield the power that they once did."

"Can they still glass planets?" the Director asked. His voice lowered to a mutter. The Leader was haltered by the change in tone of the argument.

"Of course not, we would never allow them to regain that sort of power again."

"Are you sure?" the Director asked, his voice rising again. "They may not be as powerful as they once were but that does not mean you should become complacent. Their strength wasn't in ordnance or numbers, it was in belief. Their belief was what drove them to genocide against us. It was belief that glassed dozens of human colonies and it was belief that killed billions of people," The Director leaned forward in his restraints, "and if they were to access what was hidden inside Halcyon, then they would find reserves of belief greater than they had ever had in the war and they would be in control of almost limitless power? Can you imagine that, the Covenant with the power of Halcyon?"

The Leader glared at the Director. _Is it me he is glaring at or the point that I had made?_ The Director wondered.

The Leader stood and left the room. This time he didn't return.

_Why do I get the feeling that I just caused trouble in the Garden of the Insurrection and the Covenant?_

* * *

**Project Freelancer Frigate **_**Wave of Dissent**_

Agent Indiana of Project Freelancer really wished that his armour came with gravity boots.

He was sure it was well within the techie's capabilities to make it possible to walk around when gravity was somewhat lacking. It would make running around a powerless ship in space so much simpler. They were in space for Pete's sake! Surely someone other than himself must have thought of a situation where gravity boots would be needed.

Running through a gravity-less ship filled with Covenant with the intention to stop said Covenant from making sure that the power cores were unable to be reactivated so that a certain Project Freelancer frigate was unable to defend itself against an overwhelming enemy fleet and escape with an ultra-important device called the Cypher might be one of them.

By now the Covenant had overrun much of the ship. Indiana didn't even want to think about how many Project Freelancer personnel would have been killed by the alien invaders. _Don't do that to yourself, you have a job to do._ It was fair to say that Indiana was in a rush. He didn't even have time to make any smart remarks or any fancy one-liners as he scythed his way through squads of Covenant. He noticed that the Covenant had just as much trouble moving around in the lack of gravity as the humans did. _How rubbish,_ Indiana thought. A bit of a flawed system. Indiana chuckled whenever he saw the gigantic Brutes struggle to control their flight and for some reason laughed even harder when they desperately tried to defend themselves as he cut them down, even though they had almost no control over their movements.

Fairly quickly, Indiana's assault rifle ran out of ammo and he was forced to scavenge two Brute handheld sub-machine guns from a couple of dead corpses. Indiana had always thought that the bulking frames of the Brutes slouched over the small weapon looked so stupid. Indiana also thought that the Brutes collapsing under the concentrated rain of projectiles from the two weapons looked stupid as well. So stupid that it was funny.

Indiana shot a single Brute twice, one spike for each eye, and it flew back into the line of aliens following it. Indiana thought the Brute looked like a cartoon character with two bananas for eyes, a belief that the other aliens didn't seem to have. They just stood there shocked as Indiana laughed at them, mocking them. _Oh well,_ Indiana thought and cut them down like sheep.

Indiana had far less trouble moving around in the _Wave of Dissent_ than he had originally anticipated. Most of the doors had been cut open by the Covenant and Indiana easily navigated around the floating corpses that his little skirmishes left behind. He knew that the power cores were on the tenth floor, near the bottom and stern of the ship. For a moment he considered using a Brute as a sort of skateboard for the long descent down the elevator shaft. He quickly decided not to. He was tempted though.

He entered the elevator shaft and pushed off against the ceiling of the shaft, something he could do since he was on the top floor of the frigate. He rocket downwards at a speed that felt neither slow nor fast enough. If Indiana could get to the power cores in time to stop the Covenant from permanently disabling them then those Covenant were worse than the simulation troopers the Director uses for training missions. Now that was an accomplishment.

Indiana counted the number of elevator doors he passed, slowly counting down from fifty. When he finally got to ten he grabbed the ledge of the open door and easily lifted himself into the doorway… only to be kicked back into the elevator shaft. Memories flashed but Indiana discarded them as he dove out of the way of the stabbing Elite with its glowing energy sword. The Elite went for a backhand slice but Indiana blocked the arm then smashed the alien's elbow in a way it wasn't supposed to go. Further memories surfaced of pain and suffering and it enraged Indiana. He grabbed the Elite's dropped energy sword which was floating invitingly to Indiana's right and stabbed on of the swords two prongs down the Elite's throat. He twisted the sword around and around until there was nothing left of the Elite's head apart from floating purple blood and blood-stained teeth. Smiling at his handiwork and nodding approvingly at the energy sword, it had successfully redeemed itself in Indiana's eyes, Indiana shoved the remains of the Elite down towards the bottom floors, a trail of purple blood marking its descent. Indiana kicked off the elevator shaft wall and sped off down the hallway towards the energy cores.

There was a lot of work to do.


	13. Chapter 13: What Happened to Georgia?

**Red vs. Blue: Dissent**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Thanks to all you guys for reading this little backwater story written by some random Kiwi on his laptop. This has been an absolute blast so far and thanks to you guys who have made it this far. You guys have just made writing this story so fulfilling. Wait… I was supposed to write this at the end of the series… bugger… jumped the gun…**

**Project Freelancer Frigate **_**Wave of Dissent**_

**Many Years Ago…**

Agent Carolina of Project Freelancer was starting to feel more like herself.

Over the past few days she hadn't acted like herself, a leader. First she had almost completely screwed up a mission and almost got her entire team killed which they would have had it not been for the timely interruption of Agent Indiana who acted as their saviour. And that was the other thing, Indiana. She had completely let him waltz in and take complete control over _her _team. It was obvious that he had gained the entire team's respect and Carolina had done nothing to solidify her place as leader that could be seen as leader-like.

It also seemed that Agent Indiana was a hell of a lot better informed about the mission than she was. She had managed to get him to spill out whatever he knew about the mission but as supposed leader she was supposed to be a lot more in control of the situation than she had been so far.

Why did Indiana intimidate her so much? Nobody intimidated her with the exception of the Director but that was for obvious reasons. On the outside Indiana seemed fairly laid-back and easy-natured like Agents York and North Dakota. What was it? It was that way he got in battle, the way he got when the lives of the team were at danger. He didn't just get determined or inspirational or whatever, he became cold, methodical. Not brutal or barbaric like Agent Maine but calculating in a way that just kind of disturbed Carolina. On paper that didn't seem too bad but there was just something off about him that sent shivers down Carolina's spine and left her keeping a distance from the other agent.

Carolina threw those thoughts out of her mind. Now she had space, room to lead even if her team only contained two other Freelancers. This time she had decisions that she had to make as a leader and a chance to prove why she was leader of the team.

Carolina grabbed a rifle from a case fitted to the wall of the bridge. She had mistakenly left her own rifle in her quarters and she was in need of a new one. Carolina sighed at her poor preparedness for a situation out of nowhere.

Her team's mission was much easier in words than it was in practice. They were to sneak aboard a Covenant vessel then cover the _Wave of Dissent_ as it regained power and escaped. There were several problems with this unfinished plan that Indiana had kindly left to Carolina to sort out. Obviously, getting onto the enemy ship undetected was a problem. Another was the problem of how to distract the Covenant fleet long enough and well enough for the _Wave of Dissent_ not to be critically crippled as soon as it became operational. Another was the problem of not going down with the ship when the Covenant realised that the vessel the Freelancers intended to take control over was indeed boarded and shot them down. And the fourth and admittedly the most troubling problem was getting back on the _Wave of Dissent_ before it skipped off into slipspace leaving them at the mercy of what would probably be a very pissed off Covenant.

Carolina smiled. _This'll be tricky._

The agent scanned the rest of her team. The reason for York to be on her team was obvious. His speciality was infiltration. Carolina could count on York to get them through the Covenant system without being noticed. She knew Colorado was capable as well and although he couldn't speak, he took orders well and gets them done. She could count on him as well. Between the three of them, they should be able to move through the enemy ship quiet enough. And they needed to be quiet.

"Okay guys, we're headed to the armoury," Carolina announced.

York performed a fist pump which gave his floating horizontal figure a flying Superman pose, "Yay us," he exclaimed.

They didn't reach any Covenant until they found an elevator. A squad of Grunts were climbing out of the elevator shaft so the Freelancers obligatorily cut them down, sending them back into the shaft screaming. The three Freelancers entered the elevator shaft themselves and headed downwards.

The _Wave of Dissent_ had an almost identical design to the _Mother of Invention_, Carolina remembered. Therefore the nearest armoury would be on Floor 48. She relayed this to the others and they immediately exited the elevator shaft. A mix of Grunts and Jackals greeted the Freelancers and the three responded with a warm massacre. It had been a while since they had cut down Covenant like this, Carolina realised. Recently it had been the Insurrection that had been the focus of Project Freelancer's activities. Carolina hadn't gotten to battle Covenant like this since the end of the war apart from desperate remnants of Covenant fleets. This Covenant fleet wasn't desperate.

They reached the armoury soon enough. The three Freelancers entered the armoury with their rifles ready. Most of the weapons had been looted by Covenant or desperate Project Freelancer personnel so there weren't much left on the racks. However what Carolina was looking for was there. She smiled as she approached the rack of jetpacks hidden in a corner. "Oh and here I thought we were going to go the old fashioned route and steal a Covie dropship,"

"Nope," Carolina responded. "We get to try these." She was already grabbing one and fastening it to her armour. She passed one to Colorado then one to York. Carolina also grabbed other tools of destruction from what was left on the racks. She grinned at York, "Chin up, this'll be fun!"

"And here I thought you had no sense of humour. I just can't get it right today can I?" York was rewarded by a slap around the back of the head by a passing Carolina. Colorado didn't show any sign of amusement or… anything. He simply fastened his jetpack to his armour and followed Carolina out of the armoury. York sighed and chased after them calling, "I'm supposed to be comic relief guy!"

Next stop was Hanger 43-A which was like the name suggested on Floor 43. The three Freelancers returned to the elevator then plunged deeper into the ship. Floor 43 had a lot more Covenant on it than Floor 48 did. With Floor 43 having a hangar situated on it, the Covenant used it as one of the places to send their forces onto the Project Freelancer frigate. Carolina started by tossing a flash-bang grenade into the crowd of Covenant and after it exploded, leaving the enemy disoriented, the three Freelancers let them have it.

Reinforcements arrived for the Covenant and Carolina cursed, pulling the pin of a live grenade and sending it at the advancing Covenant. The approach of the Covenant was momentarily halted and the Freelancers moved up to the entrance of the hangar. Thankfully the Covenant dropships had already left so it was just down to whatever was left in the hangar. As the Freelancers fired inside the hangar, much of the aliens tried to take cover. The larger, more proud Covenant however tried to charge the Freelancers and ran right into their bullets. With their leaders gone, the smaller Covenant tried to surrender but Carolina had neither the time nor resources to take prisoners so she just answered them with bullets. Eventually the hangar was empty.

Carolina floated into the hanger and announced, "Alright! Grab any ammo if you have to then form up on me." Her own rifle was almost out so she discarded it and picked up two sleek, purple handheld Covenant weapons. She weighted them in her hands and they had a good balance.

The other two were soon by her side carrying new weapons and with everyone present she said, "Right, we'll be using these jetpacks to get to that Covenant cruiser directly in front of us," she pointed at a distant Covenant ship that was shown in the hangar door. "We're going to approach it using that debris field as cover so hopefully they don't detect us." Carolina motioned at a field of rock between the two ships.

"Hopefully," York muttered. "What about their shields?"

"They probably won't have them active."

"Probably?"

"Remember this is a weakened Covenant. They're still pretty dangerous but weakened nonetheless. They won't waste power with shields against a defenceless enemy."

"Hopefully…" York muttered.

Carolina sighed, "If their shields are up then we'll deal with it."

Carolina prepared to activate her jetpack when she added, "Be careful with your jetpack in that debris field, course correction only. You don't want to end up like Georgia."

Colorado looked at York questioningly and York answered, "Don't even ask, bro."

And with that the three Freelancers soared out of the hangar, their armour keeping them pressurised and supplied with air. Carolina set a decent pace, one that gave them enough time to complete the mission due to their time constraints but also one that gave them enough time to change course if necessary.

Wyoming must have got to Carolina because out of the blue she thought, _Knock Knock. Who's there? Pain…_

* * *

**Oblivion**

Kane was awoken when the cell door opened and his former second-in-command, Riley, was thrown onto the cold hard floor. There were cuts on his arms and face that had been half-heartedly treated and Kane could tell from the look in Riley's eyes that they hurt, badly. Riley was shivering intensely and Kane wrapped his arms around his childhood friend like a parent would to a cold child. As Riley's body temperature rose, the shivering slowly ceased and he spoke in breaths, "I wouldn't tell them… anything so they… hurt me… and cut me… They didn't… even ask me… many questions… they just hurt me…"

Kane closed his eyes and murmured, "I know." He knew why they were doing this. The Covenant had deduced that Kane was the leader so they were trying to break him by making Riley suffer. Kane will get his turn Riley would get the worst of it. It was now that Kane wondered whether it was the right choice to surrender without a fight. Kane looked down at Riley who started shivering again. Maybe they should have just died in that forest and saved themselves the torture.

Time passed without Kane noticing. _What did time matter?_ Kane wondered. _What did anything matter?_ Kane had shed the identity of Phoenix One when the two of them were captured by the Covenant. The military won't save them. Who were they? They were just two soldiers. They didn't know any great military secrets. They weren't important enough to sanction a rescue party. Even if the UNSC knew that the two of them had been captured and knew where they were, why would they risk their men to save two militarily-speaking unimportant soldiers?

So if no one was going to come save them, then Kane would have to do it himself. No matter what the cost, Kane would ensure that Riley got out of this alive. Kane would ensure that Riley would get a second chance at life. He'll be rewarded by the UNSC for his courage, retire from the military, settle down, get married, maybe have a couple of kids to raise while others went to war. Kane swore that night that Riley would survive. Riley would not join that long list of men and women who died under Kane's leadership. Not Riley.

Kane guessed it was morning when two Brutes dragged him out of the cell and took him to the interrogation room. Kane realised that they were being held in an abandoned UNSC base. The UNSC logo drifted out from underneath Kane on the floor as he was dragged through a poorly maintained corridor. Moss was growing along the walls and ceiling and Kane jerked in the grip of the Brutes when a loose brick jabbed him in the back.

Eventually the two Brutes turned and dragged Kane into another room. Kane was tied to a wooden post in the centre of the room, his hands fastened behind his back. The Brutes took up positions on either side of the entrance into the room which was immediately opened by an Elite in green armour. It fixed its eyes squarely on Kane and approached him menacingly. Kane had been tied to the post in a standing position so his knees buckled but he was stopped from collapsing when the Elite punched him in the stomach. The wind was instantly knocked out of Kane and he felt bile rise up his throat. The Elite leaned in close to Kane and roared. Kane was repelled by the smell and the spittle which hit his face.

His voice quickly came back to him and he exclaimed, "Woah! That smell! Mate, you need some breath mints. I think I had some with my armour. They were in a container. It's greenish and looks kind of like a ball with stuff poking out of it. You can open it by pulling the pin and waiting a few sec-" Kane was interrupted when the Elite punched him again. Kane's voice came back quicker than before, "Ah you were considering it… I can tell." This time he was rewarded with a punch to the face. Kane spat out a tooth and a bit more blood than he would have liked. "Ok, you don't want breath mints, fine. I get it. Maybe we can dress those two in pretty dresses. I think I'll call the one on the left Susan and the one on the right Roxanne…"

The two Brutes started forward, growling angrily however the Elite roared back at them and they reluctantly stepped back into their positions. Kane doubted that the Brutes had understood what Kane had said but with the head nodding in their direction and such, they probably guessed that Kane had been mocking them. The Elite stared down at Kane and spoke in an extremely gravelly voice, "Do you know why you're here human?"

"Because Susan and Roxanne dragged me here in very un-ladylike fashion?" Kane asked.

Kane could feel the Elite's breath smash against his face, "No, human. You are here because it amuses me to watch you suffer." Kane was fascinated by the way the Elite arranged its jaws so it could pronounce certain human consonants. It would keep its top two jaws together and its bottom two jaws together to replicate a human mouth.

"I get that," Kane replied. "Must get pretty boring up here with those two for company."

The Elite produced a noise that Kane guessed was a laugh, "You are amusing, human. However… I think I would find it even more amusing to listen to you scream!"

And scream that night Kane did.


	14. Chapter 14: The Cafeteria in Space

**Red vs. Blue: Dissent**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**I think this might finally be the chapter that we get to read the story from Agent Washington's perspective. Cool…**

**Project Freelancer Frigate **_**Wave of Dissent**_

**Many Years Ago…**

Why did Indiana put _him _in charge? And if Indiana had to put him in charge why did he get teamed up with _her._

Agent Washington looked across at Agent South Dakota. Even with her visor stopping Wash from seeing her facial expression, he could tell she wasn't happy. Maybe it was all the yelling, "Why the hell were you made leader? I'm the better agent here by far!" Wash couldn't argue with that sadly. "It doesn't make sense. What makes anyone think that _you_ have any leadership qualities at all? What do you do on this team except somehow screw everything up?"

"Shut up!" Wash cried. "Bloody hell. I'm not sure if you noticed but we are currently in a little bit of a rush, you know, difference between life and death! If those Covenant manage to destroy the engines before we can stop them, then whatever inferiority complex you have going on doesn't mean crap! So why don't you shut up, do your job, and shoot anything that isn't human!"

Wash could feel South glaring daggers at him but eventually she backed off and began moving away. They took off towards the elevator (A/N: Yes I know, more elevator shafts. Just live with it, unless you want me depicting them taking the stairs) and plunged into the darkness… right into the swarm of Buggers.

"Crap, Buggers!" South cried.

The purple armour of South Dakota was soon lost in the sea of aliens. Wash didn't know how far down the swarm went so he pushed off against a ledge on the wall of the elevator shaft and he flew out of the swarm. However a few Buggers had clung to him as he ascended and Wash was forced to try and rip them off. He managed to pull one off after a brief struggle and he slammed it against the wall, breaking its neck. There were two still clinging to him so he drew his knife and stabbed one in the head and kicked the other one, which was attached to his leg, into the wall. It let go so he kicked it in the face with his boot.

South had so far failed to rise from the swarm so shooting the Buggers wasn't an option. Obviously neither was a grenade. Unless…

Wash grabbed an incendiary grenade from his waist and activated it before throwing it into the swarm. It ignited setting several Buggers on fire. Their screams were lost in buzzing from the other Buggers as they retreated from their burning brethren leaving a small gap. This was his chance. He pushed off against something on the wall and sailed through the gap at breakneck speed. The Buggers tried to close the gap as they realised the trick but they couldn't stop him. Wash saw a flash of purple and he reached out to it. In fact he slammed right into it and pushed it along in front of him.

South lashed out and struck Wash in the visor. Wash slammed into the wall with a crash and the Buggers were on him. Fear coursed through him as a Bugger filled his vision and started pounding on his cracked visor. Not caring if he hit South, Wash drew his pistol from its magnetic clip on his thigh and he fired into the swarm. The sudden noise and light frightened the aliens and they drew back away from the Magnum and Wash capitalised on this. Once again he ripped the Bugger off his helmet then set off down again before the swarm regained its wits.

He found South again who was battling several of the Buggers and using his pistol, Wash shot the ones that were surrounding her. South broke the neck of one that was in her arms then the two linked up and fled from the chasing swarm. As he descended downwards, Wash twisted and threw a live grenade into the swarm of Buggers. It exploded, taking out the core of the swarm but also ripping the elevator shaft apart. Wash's eyes widened and he began saying "Oh crap-'' when he felt a hand grab his shoulder and pulled him through a doorway and into a corridor.

He looked around and saw South let go of his shoulder. When his heart finally slowed to something resembling resting heart rate, he muttered, "Thanks for the save…"

South looked at him and replied, "Let's just call us even," South was panting. "You almost screwed that up again." She noted.

"Yeah, I know…" Wash sighed. "You have any idea where we are?"

South shook her head and looked around. The floodlights on her helmet fell upon a sign reading "Cafeteria".

"Cafeteria," Wash pointed out. "If this is like the _Mother of Invention_-''

"Then the engines are on this floor," South finished. "Let's go."

Wash sighed. She was still trying to take charge.

The two moved through the ransacked cafeteria. There were a few Covenant remaining in the cafeteria but the two Freelancers easily took them down. Wash was surprised of how few Covenant there were around the ship. Then he realised that this was a big ship and the Covenant would be focusing their efforts on key sections of the ship like the bridge and the engines. Things will get more crowded.

They exited the cafeteria through the door opposite the door with which they had entered and continued down a hallway. The amount of Covenant they came across increased and the density of the Covenant defence increased as well. Wash noticed that while the Covenant vessels were armed enough to contain an EMP, their foot soldiers were dreadfully under-armed. Most of the Covenant they came across were armed with human weapons, weapons they had either bought off the black market or weapons they had scavenged off dead soldiers.

When the two finally reached the entrance to the engine room they found that the door had been manually closed. "There'll definitely be some sort of defence on the other side." Wash noted. The two Freelancers hadn't exactly been quiet on their approach and there wasn't a lot of time to wait around. Wash flicked through the different vision settings set for his helmet. Infrared picked up several Covenant inside plus a few turrets warming up. "I see two dozen Covies inside manning three plasma turrets," South nodded as she switched to infrared as well. There was something else as well. "I think they're setting up a bomb in there!"

South stretched her arms and said, "Okay, this is what I think we should do. We bust this door down and you cover me while I take out whatever's inside. Take out the turrets first then take out any targets with long range weaponry. I'll handle the close-up stuff."

Wash wasn't sure but they didn't know how long until that bomb was ready to detonate. "Ok, I'll get the door." Wash grabbed a grenade. Normally the door was designed to withstand a grenade but with the power out and it already having been forced open, the door was a lot more vulnerable. Wash calculated how long the grenade would take to reach the door then once he was satisfied, pulled the pin. He waited a second then threw the grenade. The grenade hit the door and bounced off and for a split second Wash wondered if he had miscalculated but then the grenade exploded. Wash heard the door rip open over the sound of the grenade and he shouted at South, "_Go!_"

She didn't need a second request. She pushed off the wall and dived through the smoke. Wash switched to infrared and moved into the doorway. There was a lot of heat generated by the plasma turrets but he could still distinctly make out the aliens manning the turrets. He started off with the one in the centre and fired his rifle. A three shot burst rang beside Wash and the alien collapsed. Wash realised that the smoke from the grenade would quickly clear and decided to search for snipers. _There,_ he thought. There was a small heat signature lying apart from the main group. He lined up the shot and fired. He saw the heat signature shoot backwards and Wash knew he hit.

He switched back his attention to the main group and noticed a heat signature moving underneath them. Wash knew that the engine room contained the engines and was based in a large spherical room. Between the entrance to the room and the engines themselves was a long bridge. The Covenant defences were based on the bridge. The heat signature under the bridge climbed onto the bridge and mixed with the main group. _South,_ Wash noted. _Time to help._

Wash moved to the back wall of the hallway he was in and pushed off it, speeding into the engine room. He switched out of infrared vision and moved back into normal vision, placing his trust in his own vision and the floodlights attached to his helmet against the dark. The Covenant were distracted by South so no one fired at him while he approached. He drew his magnum in his left hand and his knife in his right and said over the radio, "South, I'm moving in."

Wash slammed into a Brute that had its back turned. It wasn't wearing a helmet so he plunged his knife through the back of its head and into its brain. The impact of Wash hitting the Brute sent it flying forward deeper into the fray of battle. Wash saw South injecting an Elite full of bullets from her assault rifle. He also noticed a Brute behind her so as he passed, he shot it in the head with his pistol. He took out two other targets as the Freelancer riding a Brute flew through the fight. When it emerged on the other side, Wash pushed off the Brute and headed back in the horde of Covenant.

He shot a Grunt in the head and twisted so that he landed on a turret feet first. It had been bolted on the ground so it didn't float away in the zero gravity. Wash straightened so he was standing horizontally, searching for a better word, on the turret and he fired his pistol repeatedly, taking out several aliens. However there were still quite a few aliens remaining. He needed to finish this quickly. "South, up!" he shouted into the radio. Somehow she got the message and Wash saw the purple Freelancer soar up. At the same time he jammed a grenade into the trigger guard of the plasma turret, sending the turret into a firing frenzy. Wash spun the turret so it spun wildly in circles spitting plasma at the remaining Covenant. Wash himself ducked as low as possible so the plasma sailed over him. By the time the turret had run out of ammunition, no alien was left standing.

Wash looked up as South reached the ceiling of the engine room. She pushed off and raced towards the bomb. Wash decided this was a pretty good idea and headed there as well. What he found was a large box that was about the size of a piano. The two Freelancers found the screen which showed alien symbols which Wash assumed was some sort of countdown. Now came the big problem.

"How the hell do we disarm this thing?"

Wash expected South to yell at Wash like she normally did but instead all she said was, "Shit…"

* * *

**UNSC Archive File**

**Location: Project Freelancer Frigate **_**Mother of Invention**_

The Director of Project Freelancer looked over the recruit personnel files again. It was extremely important that he got the right people for the job. He had to be sure that they would be able to work together. Any setbacks would take time to fix and that meant more lives lost to the Covenant.

After scanning over the files, he closed them and the files whizzed away off the screen of his datapad. He was satisfied with the team. It was well balanced and there was a good mix, not just in physical capabilities but also in the mental capabilities of the team as well. There were a few rough spots on the team but there were others on the team that can keep them in check. However often rough spots were good for a team as well, having the capability to make the team more effective.

There were still a few issues of course. The Director's first attempt at acquiring Phoenix Team hadn't gone so well. The Director had to admit he didn't quite approach the conversation the way it should but the Director could fix that.

"Director," The Director turned and saw the man he had received from command to deal with the more menial tasks concerning the agents. The man, or the Counsellor continued. "I'm not sure how this affects us but apparently a military unit went M.I.A. possibly K.I.A. recently. The team were captured by a Covenant squad on a planet called Oblivion and it's designated Phoenix –''

The Director interrupted him saying, "Send it to my datapad, Counsellor." This was a major issue. The Counsellor nodded and moments later the report appeared on the Director's datapad. After quickly reading the brief report, the Director looked at the Counsellor who was looking at him questioningly. "This was concerning two of the recruits for the project. You should have got the files."

The Counsellor's face lit in panic and he muttered, "My apologies, Director. I only just received the files. I have not yet had a chance to read them."

The Director groaned, "Then you should read them soon," the Director looked at the report again. "It says here that a member of Phoenix Team was found."

"Indeed, Director. Their Pelican was captured in what the soldier called 'a tractor beam' and the team parachuted to the surface. There they fled from Covenant forces towards a UNSC outpost but were caught miles from their destination. Phoenix Six escaped because he was currently 'scouting up a tree' whereas Phoenix One and Two were captured by overwhelming Sangheili forces. The soldier believes that Phoenix One and Two were captured alive."

"We need to ask him some questions," The Director stated.

The Director wasn't happy. The balance of his team had just been tipped considerably.


	15. Chapter 15: 221B Memory Lane

**Red vs. Blue: Dissent**

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Hey guys. If you're enjoying this fanfic then maybe you should check out Phase One: Genesis by the Freelancer Collaboration. It's a group project by a bunch of very talented writers and is subsequently very good. For some reason they've accepted some**** random New Zealander****to**** write Agent Carolina for them in their sequel but I'm sure they'll drop him soon enough.**

**UNSC Archive File**

**Location: UNSC Outpost Oblivion-A**

**Many Years Ago…**

Phoenix Six was escorted from his quarters in the middle of the night by two UNSC soldiers. He was led through a series of corridors in complete silence. Every hallway looked almost identical so Phoenix Six wasn't sure how far it was he had gone, it could have been across the entire complex for all he knew. Eventually he was led into a room that was dominated by a giant screen which filled up the opposing wall to the entrance. The screen flicked into life and a man with dark skin appeared. "Good evening, Martin."

"Good evening, sir." Phoenix Six replied.

"There is no need for the sir, Martin," the man said. His voice could be easily taken to be patronising along with the use of Phoenix Six's first name and the understanding eyes that looked down on Phoenix Six from their high position on the screen. "You two gentlemen can excuse us."

The two soldiers turned on their heel and left the room, leaving Phoenix Six alone with the man on the screen. "You can call me the Counselor, Martin. I only have a few questions for you, and then you can go back to bed."

"Ok, sir… I mean… Counselor."

The Counselor nodded appreciatively and began his questions, "I assume that you are Private Martin Arthur then, considering you're reaction to the name Martin."

Phoenix Six nodded, "Correct, Counselor."

"And until recently you were part of a UNSC unit code signed Phoenix under the designation Phoenix Six?"

"Yes,"

"Good," The Counselor stated. "You are doing very well so far, Martin."

"Thank you, Counselor."

"You were led by this man, Commander Kane bzzt and his second-in-command Riley bzzt, codenamed Phoenix One and Phoenix Two, respectively?"

3D images of Phoenix One and Two's heads appeared floating in front of Phoenix Six and he nodded, "That's them Counselor."

The Counselor looked at something off screen. "My apologies Martin but there seems to be something wrong with the transmission, could you repeat that again?"

"Those are the men who led my unit, Counselor."

The Counselor smiled, "That is good to confirm, Martin. Now, can you recount the events leading up to the capture of Phoenix One and Two and your escape to the UNSC outpost where you are currently situated?"

Phoenix Six grimaced and nodded, "I'll try Counselor but they aren't especially memories that I like to remember."

The Counselor nodded understandably, "I know, Martin, but for the lives of Phoenix One and Two, you will have to remember the events of the last few days."

Phoenix Six nodded and readied himself before speaking. He spoke of how they had just been returning from a bad mission which had wiped out all but four of Phoenix Team. He spoke of how they had evac'd onto a Pelican and gotten the hell out of there. He spoke of the call Phoenix One had received and how it hadn't ended especially well then spoke of the tractor beam that latched onto the Pelican and wouldn't let go. He spoke of how they had parachuted out of the Pelican to escape. He recounted the horrifying noises of the co-pilot being killed by Covenant snipers when he released his chute too early and the horrible rush as they fell dangerously low to the ground before finally releasing their parachutes.

Once on the ground, Phoenix Six had learnt that Phoenix Four had been hit by a sniper and wasn't looking good. Phoenix One was missing and Phoenix Two laboured over Phoenix Four with the limited medical supplies they had. Eventually Phoenix One had broken radio silence and rendezvoused with them. Phoenix Six spoke about his conversation with One and Two about their plan to escape to the nearest UNSC outpost. He spoke about how Phoenix Four had passed in the night and after a brief ceremony, the three had moved out into the night. They had moved at night but slept during the day.

Phoenix Six finally reached the part where the three soldiers had reached the forest. Phoenix One had told Six to climb a tree and scout around so Six did. He told the Counselor about how he had seen the lights of the outpost in the distance and how he had excitedly told One about it. Then came the blood-chilling warning followed by the long silence, like the calm before the storm. And the storm came alright. Six told the Counselor how the Covenant had attacked his two superiors and quickly overwhelmed them.

Six felt an irrational shame in hiding up in the tree while Phoenix One and Two were captured by the Covenant. Six knew there was nothing he could do to change the result but he felt bad that he escaped when they didn't. Survivor's guilt, Phoenix Six believed it was called.

"How can you be so sure that Phoenix One and Two are still alive?"

"I can't," Six replied honestly. "However our plan if the Covenant caught up with us was to go quietly. Resisting would only have got us killed and that was one thing I don't think One would allow after what happened to the others."

"I understand, Martin. Do you have any clue as to where Phoenix One and Two could be currently being held?"

"Sorry, Counselor but no," Phoenix Six muttered. He really was sorry. Phoenix Two was a good friend and Six had no doubt that Phoenix One cared about what happened to his team.

"Ok, Martin. You have been a great help to us and if there's anything that you remember that can help us locate Phoenix One and Two then please let your superiors here know and they can get in touch with me. It has been a pleasure, Martin."

"Thank you, Counselor."

The two soldiers came back into the room to escort Six back to his quarters. In his peripheral vision Six saw the screen with the Counselor on it flicker out and he wondered what it was that the

Counselor whoever the Counselor worked for wanted with Phoenix One and Two for? Six doubted that One and Two were going to be allowed to retire from the military peacefully.

**Project Freelancer Frigate **_**Wave of Dissent**_

Agent Indiana had eliminated all Covenant on the way to the power generators with extreme prejudice. Indiana didn't have time to keep prisoners so any aliens that pleaded for their lives did not find any mercy from Indiana. Whether Indiana would have spared them if he had time was yet to have been decided.

As the latest in the long line of dead Covenant fell at Indiana's feet, he could feel the bloodlust flood through his veins. Indiana grimaced. He never felt quite this way about killing Insurrectionists. It was always the Covemant that tipped him over the edge. Always.

It was only now that Indiana really noticed Beta's absence. Beta did its best to stay out of the way when Indiana was fighting while still assisting Indiana with the instant calculations required to keep the equipment in his armour running at top efficiency. However it was still a pain to have the A.I. in the back of Indiana's head. Even now with Beta logged off, Indiana could still feel its presence hovering like a foul after-stench. Still, it was nice to able to fight the old-fashioned way without a passenger inside your head.

A squad of Covenant rounded the corner and raised their weapons. Without Beta, Indiana couldn't reliably use the prototype thruster pack that he had been supplied with. Not wanting to strafe sideways into the wall, Indiana opted for the leap of faith and dove into the Covenant ranks.

He managed to dodge the plasma fire and came up firing. At this close range and with the lack of gravity, the Grunts hit by the bullets from Indiana's rifle were sent flying back into their teammates behind them. Their Elite leader was knocked off balance by a flying Grunt and Indiana used this opportunity to metaphorically put down the giant alien with a few bullets to the face.

The Grunts froze for a moment in shock as their leader lay lifeless with purple blood seeping from the bullet wounds in his heads. Indiana capitalised on this and took down a few more Grunts with his rifle. Some Grunts cried out in fear and threw down their weapons as they fled. Others were stupider and roared a pathetically unintimidating roar of fury. Indiana kicked a roaring Grunt behind him with a back kick and shot two more with his rifle. It clicked empty so Indiana dropped it and drew his pistol, effectively exterminating the remaining defiant Covenant with precise headshots. Indiana was careful just to spend one bullet on each Grunt. _No point in wasting bullets, _Indiana reasoned.

The final alien fell and Indiana holstered his pistol then picked up his rifle and replaced the magazine with a fresh one.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Indiana rushed off towards the power core room. Any Covenant that Indiana ran into were subsequently gunned down.

The lack of gravity didn't seem to affect Indiana's ability to exterminate the flocks of aliens. While some of the aliens used their gravity boots to flee through the hallways, Indiana used the walls and ceiling to traverse the corridors with ease and to utilise the angles to eliminate the Covenant in time-efficient and rather creative ways. Indiana looked scanned the gravity boots that some of the Covenant with his helmet. When the Covenant were kicked back to wherever they've been skulking since the end of the war, Project Freelancer could use technology like these grav-boots, they'd make battles like this much easier.

One thing Indiana noticed was that the Covenant were extremely underarmed and poorly trained. Most of the aliens wielded either really old black market weapons, human weapons picked up off fallen Project Freelancer soldiers or were completely unarmed. This along with the fact that a majority of the alien soldiers were badly trained made breaking through the Covenant foot soldiers a stroll in the park but Indiana wasn't naive to ignore the fact that it only took one lucky shot to bring even him down.

Eventually, Indiana reached the entrance to the power core. He quickly switched to thermal vision to scout the room. He picked up several Covenant soldiers however there was probably a lot more as the residual heat signature from the power core messed with thermal imagery.

There was something else. Around the power core were several heat signatures that didn't fit any of the Covenant species. It quickly dawned on Indiana what was the source of the strange heat signatures. _Humans, _Indiana realised. There were a few heat signatures that matched the profiles of Brutes. They're holding the humans as hostages, perhaps using them to help sabotage the power core.

Indiana noticed a few Grunts fleeing through the entrance into the power core. Indiana switched back out of thermal vision and returned to normal vision. The lights in the power core room were out. Any snipers or high ranking Covenant would likely be using night vision or thermal vision to see in the dark. _Let's give them something to see, _Indiana thought to himself. He gripped a flash-bang grenade from his belt and pulled the pin. He waited a second before throwing it through the door. A moment later there was a loud bang followed by a blinding flash concluding with a chorus of cries from the Covenant inside the power core room. Indiana took his chance and in the momentary confusion, he dove into the already dimming room. Covered by both the cloak of darkness and the blinded Covenant, Indiana pushed off the floor and floated towards the ceiling.

The Freelancer switched to thermal and located the nearest sniper. The Jackal was struggling with its night vision goggles so Indiana decided to take out this one first. Indiana angled himself in the direction of the sniper and launched himself at the sniper. He had to get this done quietly.

As Indiana approached the Jackal, he drew his knife. He landed on the snipers nest with an almost inaudible thud but even with the confusion below, the Jackal's keen ears picked up on the faint noise originating from behind and turned. Indiana moved fast, clamping the Jackal's jaws shut then swinging his knife across the Jackals throat. Indiana felt the alien jerk and spasm but he didn't allow any noise to escape to alert the other Covenant.

When the sniper went limp in Indiana's arms, Indiana set the Jackals down silently. Indiana checked the Jackal's weapons. It carried a standard Covenant Carbine with a full magazine. _What luck._

Indiana slipped his knife back into its sheath then picked up the Carbine. After checking thermal Indiana located one more sniper on the other side of the room. Indiana doublechecked that there were no more snipers in the room and tracked the locations of the other Covenant before raising his Carbine and looked down the scope.

Order was being restored on the ground below and the aliens started investigating the grenade and started searching for an intruder. The enemy sniper was staring down the scope of its sniper rifle searching for the intruder. It wouldn't be long before Indiana's location was discovered and fired upon. He had to move quickly. Indiana lined up the Jackal in his scope making gut adjustments for the lack of gravity. When he was satisfied, Indiana squeezed the trigger. Admittedly, Indiana wasn't as good a shot as specialist snipers like Wyoming of North Dakota but he backed his ability to the target from this distance. Thankfully that faith was rewarded. A sharp crack rang throughout the power core room and the Jackal collapsed.

That's when all hell broke loose.

There was a scream of fury from the Covenant below as they tried tip figure out what was going on. Indiana switched targets flawlessly and took out three more Covenant before they realised where he was. Indiana ducked as a hailstorm of plasma fire rocked the sniper's nest in which he was residing. Until the bazooka turned up.

The first thing Indiana heard was a Brute screaming orders followed by a faint _poomp_. Next came the explosion. The entire sniper's nest shook from the impact and green flames licked at Indiana's helmet. The explosion must have taken out a foundation as the sniper's nest was sent flying towards the ceiling. Luckily for Indiana, the sniper's nest was spinning in a mostly horizontal motion so when it hit the ceiling, Indiana was able to lessen the impact by taking it in his legs. His knees bent to take the impact then rapidly extended, pushing off against the ceiling. The Freelancer and the sniper's nest plummeted towards the Covenant below. Indiana could imagine their eyes widening as they saw the twisted hunk of purple metal flying towards them and he smiled in his helmet. He brought his feet to the sniper's nest as it slammed into the ground. Any Covenant who had failed to get clear in time were going to be crushed under the debris.

Indiana looked up and got a glance of a Brute carrying a very large bazooka on its shoulder. "Oh crap." Indiana muttered before leaping backwards. Once again there was a faint _poomp _and what was left of the sniper's nest went up in green flames. Indiana was thrown backwards so his shot at the Brute missed and instead buried itself in a wall. Indiana hit the wall hard and looked up to see the Covenant pointing their various weapons in his direction. There wasn't any time to get into a position to push off the wall and dodge the bullets and plasma fire about to be fired at him. Indiana had one chance. He activated the thruster pack and hoped it didn't send him flying into the bullets. Indiana felt his stomach plunge as he was thrown downwards brutally. The bullets and plasma fire burnt and dented the wall just above Indiana's head.

Before they could adjust their aim, Indiana twisted almost upside down and kicked off the wall. He hit the ground in a roll and dove for cover, dodging the hot projectiles along the way. Indiana managed to find some cover and drew his rifle. He had lost the Carbine when the sniper's nest was hit by the bazooka a second time. He saw three Grunts charging at him and he took them all down. He needed an advantage to finish this. "Beta, log on."

The black-armoured form of Beta appeared beside Indiana, "I need you to calculate the thruster pack for me," Indiana stated.

Beta nodded, "Of course." The A.I. still sounded tired but recovery would have to wait a little longer. "I detect three Elite's approaching your position from your current five o'clock."

Indiana looked over his soldier and three Elites were approaching his position, they all seemed to be equipped with grav-boots, energy swords and plasma rifles. "Bugger, Zealot-class. This won't be easy, especially with the others firing on me. Beta, I need a burst from the thruster pack on my mark."

Beta nodded, "Ready."

Beta disappeared and Indiana paused, taking a deep breath. He popped out of cover and shot one of the Elites in the head. Its head was knocked back but didn't fall, a flash of blue light flaring around its head. "Damn it, shields." Indiana cursed. By the way the other two dove for cover, Indiana had managed to choose the one Elite wearing an energy shield. Indiana broke cover and propped against the rear wall. The Elite tensed and a snarl grew on piece of crap Indiana guessed was a face. Indiana could feel the smile already growing on his face.

"Mark!"

**This chapter was originally a bit longer but I decided to be mean and cut you guys off mid-action and prolonged this fight for another chapter. Ha ha! Now I'm the only one who knows how this ends!**


End file.
